Tiger Guards

Chapter 222: Difficult to Recover
The fleet commanded by Xiangli Bao headed south again, this time merging with another fleet.

Nearly 7,000 people were transported at one time, and all 5,000 of Zhang Yang's troops were on board.

Zhao Ji's second brother Zhao Yuan was held hostage by the Henei soldiers. Zhang Yang was very considerate and directly recommended Zhao Yuan to be the Wumeng Duwei, and he became the Qi Duwei.

Even though he was just a captain with no official title, Zhao Yuan wore gilded armor and stood on the deck of the transport ship, enjoying the breeze and gazing at the scenery on both sides of the river. He wished that everyone could see the gilded and gorgeous armor on him.

In the transport ship at the rear, Zhang Yang, wearing a light khaki brocade robe, played chess with the Chief Secretary Xue Hong.

Xue Hong looked lost. From a personal standpoint, he was worried about the future of the court.

The imperial court has been sending out waves of envoys during this period... This costs money, and it costs even more to send invisible people.

The envoys spread the court's voice to all parts of Kanto like a wave, and the process actually consumed gold, silk, horses and lives.

Human lives were risked, they were carried on horses, carrying gold, wearing brightly colored robes, and carrying the most worthless imperial edicts to Guandong.

Under the lure of official positions in the imperial court, these people continued to come forward, which made the imperial court's edicts echo throughout Guandong.

When these envoys in fine clothes and on fine horses arrived in Guandong, the scholars along the way would also want to defect to the court when they saw them.

Without Zhao Ji's support, future imperial envoys would most likely have to walk when departing from Luodu. Only with their tenacious willpower, the ragged envoys could deliver the imperial edicts to the isolated counties.

Zhang Yang, on the other hand, didn't feel anything. He even found it unbelievable that he could break up with Zhao Ji peacefully.

He has five thousand soldiers here, two thousand of whom were sent in by Zhao Ji.

If he were in his shoes, it would be hard for him not to be tempted.

Just like dealing with the Xiongnu Chanyu Huochexuan, put him under house arrest, summon him to the court, and then send people to take over Hanoi, I think Hanoi will not raise too much resistance.

Now that they have embarked on the road of withdrawal, Zhang Yang is already very grateful. He does not want to care about anything beyond his ability.

On another transport ship, Yang Biao boarded the ship and looked around. He came to Yang Qi with doubts: "Brother, Kong Wenju is not on the ship."

Yang Qi was slightly surprised, but then he returned to normal: "Don't worry about him, he should be hiding near the emperor."

Kong Rong was a new arrival, and the Hedong soldiers who stayed behind in the camp may have overlooked Kong Rong's presence when arranging them to board the ship.

Yang Qi was not worried about Kong Rong. Any normal person would not kill Kong Rong.

While answering, Yang Qi observed the people on both sides of the strait harvesting grass.

The grass is just harvested and spread out on the spot to dry. It will be bundled after it is completely dry. These bundles are then tied into haystacks on the spot to avoid autumn rain and prevent moisture and rot.

Quietly looking at the scenery on both sides of the river, Yang Qi felt inexplicably sad.

Zhao Ji was too wary of them. Even though they tried their best to cooperate during this period, they still could not win Zhao Ji's trust.

The more peaceful and friendly the breakup was, the more regretful Yang Qi felt.

Obviously you can fight for it...

Doesn’t Yang Qi know what kind of people Yuan Shao and Cao Cao are?

He knows better than anyone else!

Only the young man Zhao Ji is easy to talk to. Zhao Ji has a really good temper.

Even though Ding Chong attempted to assassinate him, he only killed a few of his men. The incident was not escalated, thus preserving the court's pitiful vitality.

With extremely complicated feelings, Yang Qi drifted south with the boat. He could not stop the boat, nor could he stop the huge fleet heading south.

The other ministers also looked at the two banks, followed the boat, and pondered their own thoughts.

In an old transport ship at the rear, Sima Lang was in a good mood.

The atmosphere in the Zhongdu camp was too gloomy and depressing for him. As long as he arrived in Luodu, Sima Lang was confident that he could help the court in times of turmoil.

The various parties are at war...it's impossible to keep fighting forever, there has to be a ceasefire or negotiation.

When the imperial court returns to Luodu, it will soon be able to intervene in mediation among all parties or other affairs, and the imperial court's influence will be quickly restored.

Sima Lang is full of confidence about the future.

At the Zhongdu Camp dock, Guanqiu Yi watched the last series of small boats of the fleet depart from afar and couldn't help but sigh.

He believed in his own judgment and knew that following that group of ministers would not end well.

I don’t know what Pei Mao will choose. As far as Hedong and the court are concerned, a heavyweight figure is needed to serve in the court.

Anyone who takes on this task can benefit both parties.

Based on his understanding of Pei Mao, Pei Mao would not miss this good opportunity.

Guanqiu Yi vaguely felt that it would be better for Pei Mao to go to the court.

As he was thinking, he turned around and saw his son Guanqiu Xing standing on the watchtower of the camp, alone and looking very desolate.

Guanqiu Xing's eyes were depressed, without much anger, and he ignored everything that was happening before his eyes.

He could not hide the change in the attitude of the ministers.

The more he noticed the change in the ministers' attitudes, the more painful Guanqiu Xing became. Even more painful was that his father finally chose to retreat.

It’s okay that he has no shame, but what about his own face?

But thinking of his infant son, Guanqiu Xing could only force himself to maintain a serious expression.

But the idea of splitting up the family is lingering in my mind and is hard to dispel.

In terms of intelligence and talent, among his peers, he only admired Pei Qian. Even Pei Xiu, Wei Gu, and Jia Kui were just so-so in Guanqiu Xing's eyes.

There is also Zhao Ji who lives in seclusion in Jishan. He has changed so much that he can no longer recognize him and his memories of the past have become blurred.

In the camp, Liu Xie's rest and rest remained unchanged. After finishing his studies, he practiced archery in the camp.

After emptying a pot of arrows, Liu Xie wiped the sweat from his face with his handkerchief, a little unconvinced: "I've heard many people say that during the battle of Jinyang, Zhao Aiqing shot all twelve pots of arrows. How could the difference in manpower be so great?"

Shi Qian took the handkerchief with both hands and replied with a smile, "Your Majesty, even the Marquis of Zhao is not perfect. He is not good at shooting with his left and right hands, and even his horse archery is a little inferior."

"There's no need to comfort me."

Liu Xie took another pot of arrows and hung them up. Suddenly he twisted his waist, turned around, drew his bow and shot an arrow. His posture was very handsome and his movements were very cool.

However, there was no arrow on the raft fifty steps away. The arrow flew through the air and landed on the grass seventy or eighty steps away.

Liu Xie pursed his lips, stood in a standard shooting posture, pinched the arrow, drew the bow and shot another arrow.

He was calm when he shot the arrow, and it hit the target steadily, but not the center of the target.

Liu Xie remained calm and shot another arrow, hitting the bull's eye.

Soon the pot of arrows was empty. Liu Xie put away his bow and watched Tiger Ben pull the arrows from the target. He reached out to take the honey water that Shi Qian handed him, took a sip, and then said, "With Zhao Aiqing's talent, even without a famous teacher, he can still shoot an arrow a hundred and fifty steps with his right hand. Now that he has mastered the art of archery and has good teachers and friends around him, it is hard for him not to improve his archery skills."

After handing the empty cup back, Liu Xie stretched his sore arms slightly, changed his shooting posture, and began to draw the bow with his left hand.

Practicing left and right shooting is an essential foundation for a skilled archer.

In order to save costs and increase efficiency, the draw warriors trained in the army will only be trained to draw arrows with their right hands... If they are trained like this when their bones are developing in adolescence, their shoulders will be uneven and their arms will also be different when they grow up.

The reason why Zhao Ji was able to improve his archery skills was very simple. If he didn't improve his archery skills, he would starve to death.

After mastering enough archery skills for hunting and forming a reliance on them, most hunters will not practice left-right shooting.

Practicing left-handed bow drawing is very costly and meaningless for the lower class.

So...if Zhao Ji doesn't want to be disabled in the future, he must practice shooting with both hands.

Zhao Ji's archery skills will become stronger and stronger. Archery is a skill that requires continuous accumulation of experience. It is very likely that he will become the archery god of the world in the future.

Liu Xie had sufficient understanding of this and did not expect his archery skills to be very accurate. This was just a necessary skill for him to strengthen his body and make friends with the warriors and the common people who accompanied him.

No matter how much the world changes, he will never have the chance to kill the enemy with a bow.

If that day really comes, even if you master Zhao Ji's archery skills, it probably won't help.

In this way, Liu Xie shot twelve pots of arrows in the morning, alternating between left and right, and was very tired.

He used a soft bow and light arrows. He really couldn't imagine how much strength and endurance Zhao Ji had to pull the strong bow and long arrows and shoot arrows like rain in the fierce battle.

During the lunch break, Guanqiu Xing, who had been promoted to the position of Imperial Secretary, came to see him with an official document: "Your Majesty, this is a military letter from the Marquis of Zhao."

"Bring it here."

Liu Xie was lying on his side, Shi Qian and another eunuch rubbed his arms to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and applied ointment on his arms.

Guanqiu Xing was not qualified to step forward, so Shi Qian stood up and took a thick scroll of silk book, handing it over with both hands: "Your Majesty."

Liu Xie stood up, took it, opened it and read it carefully.

Although he was in the camp, he would exchange letters with Zhao Ji every two or three days.

Zhao Ji disdains to play tricks, especially at this critical moment when he needs to use the court as a big platform to influence and mobilize the heroes from all sides. Zhao Ji plays his cards openly.

Liu Xie was told clearly what he wanted to do and what his intentions were.

The ministers and officials also listened and understood, and the waves of suicide squad-like envoys sent by the court also understood.

These envoys went to various places and showed off their knowledge, which was equivalent to opening up a full map view for all parties.

Even a slow-witted person like Chen Gong could immediately grasp the overall situation, and even Lu Bu felt that he had grasped the pulse of the times.

The long scroll letter sent by Zhao Ji also contained Zhang Yan's request for war.

Heishan is located at the junction of Youzhou, Bingzhou and Jizhou, which is the northern area of Taihang Mountains.

The Yu Du tribes in the southern region had been crushed by Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, so Zhang Yan and the Black Mountain Army had no influence on the Shangdang area.

This time, they will go out of the mountains to directly attack Zhongshan, Zhao, and Changshan counties, threaten Yuan Shao's Yecheng from the north, attract and share Yuan Shao's army for the Shangdang attack, and indirectly weaken the scale of the reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)