Tiger Guards

Chapter 259: Shallow Foundation
On the south side of the military camp, the north bank is a rotten mudflat.

Zhao Ji climbed up to a high place and looked around. Yuan Shao's carriage was also approaching the shore on the opposite bank, and the two were less than a hundred steps apart.

Yuan Shao got off the carriage, raised his left hand to cover his brow, and gazed at the north bank. His right hand pointed at Zhao Ji on the arrow tower and said, "Is that Zhao Yuansi?"

Xu Xun, who had met Zhao Ji several times, squinted his eyes and observed him for a moment before answering with certainty, "My Lord, that is none other than Zhao Yuansi himself. He is a man of curiosity, having altered his military uniform and stockings. The helmet he wears is of his own design, and his attendants call it the Li Hei."

"He is a remarkable man."

Yuan Shao commented and said to his men: "The army must be in good order. We must not let this man underestimate our men from Hebei."

"Here."

The officers on both sides responded and assigned several people to tidy up the surrounding formations to show Zhao Ji their neat military appearance.

Yuan Shao waited for Zhao Ji's reaction, but saw Zhao Ji also came down from the arrow tower, walked over the deer horns to the front of the barrier, grabbed the strong bow in his hand, and slowly squeezed the arrow.

At this time, Yan Liang stepped forward with a shield and stood in front of Yuan Shao on the right. If anything unexpected happened, he could raise the shield with his left arm to block the arrow.

Out of courtesy, Yan Liang only held the shield in front of himself and did not block Yuan Shao's vision.

Yuan's officers, civil and military officers watched quietly, while Zhao Ji was speechless. He resisted the urge to shoot Yuan Shao in one fell swoop and aimed his arrow at Yuan Shao's carriage on the embankment behind him.

It’s not correct to call it an embankment. It’s an earthen bank formed by the erosion of river water.

The shadow of the arrow flashed by, and Yan Liang instinctively raised his shield to protect Yuan Shao, then he heard a sound behind him.

Yan Liang turned around to look and saw that the emperor's flagpole was hit by an arrow, and the arrow hit the wooden pole of the flagpole exactly.

The arrow pierced through the canopy, penetrating nearly three feet, leaving only the red arrow feathers stuck to the embroidered canopy curtain.

Yan Liang took a deep breath and was hesitating whether to find a few more shield guards when Yuan Shao withdrew his gaze. Instead, he shook his cloak, straightened his helmet, walked around Yan Liang, took seven or eight steps forward, and stood by the river.

Zhao Ji threw the bow to Han Shu and said to the onlookers, "Yuan Benchu is bullying our army because of its shallow foundation."

Everyone had different expressions on their faces, and the arrogance brought by the continuous victories disappeared immediately.

Now Yuan Shao was well aware of Zhao Ji's archery skills, but he came to the shore openly and pretended to receive an arrow. However, at present, no one could kill Yuan Shao or even injure him.

If Yuan Shao really fell, the imperial court and the big families in Hebei would merge and revive him.

Whether it was conquering the Xiongnu, touring Taiyuan, or attacking Shangdang, the emperor's performance could not be said to be poor, and ultimately he could not satisfy his fellow Tiger Guards.

The lives of the Hedong Tiger Guards are also lives. They don’t want to be wiped out and die meaninglessly like the previous two waves of Tiger Guards.

After the eastward migration, the imperial court only conferred the title of marquis on a dozen or so people in recognition of their merits. As for the other ministers, officials, and soldiers who died in the battle, not only were they not given pensions or condolences, they couldn't even commemorate them with monuments.

The Hedong Huben were well aware of how difficult the journey was.

If Zhao Ji had not been alert, the Xiongnu king led by the white-bog general Li Le might have wiped them out that night.

When Yuan Shao saw Zhao Ji abandon his bow, a smile spread across his face, and he laughed confidently, "Hahaha, Zhao Yuansi is truly a wonderful person!"

Guo Tu followed, his face grim, and explained this to Yuan Shao and the others: "Zhao Yuansi also knows that you are a hero of the time and respects you highly, so he is unwilling to harm you."

Xin Ping followed Guo Tu and was about to speak when he saw Zhao Ji find something and suddenly threw it towards them.

Currently more than sixty steps apart, Xin Ping disagrees.

He didn't even notice the trajectory of the projectile before he was hit in the abdomen. He immediately fell backward, unable to make a sound in pain. His eyes bulged out and he groaned through gritted teeth.

Guo Tu turned around to help, and Xin Pi, who was at the back of the team, quickly stepped out to help.

Yuan Shao stood there motionless, but Xu Xun, who had heard of Zhao Ji's archery skills and supernatural powers, closed his eyes and stretched out his arms to protect Yuan Shao when he saw Zhao Ji throwing.

Yuan Shao turned his head to look and saw Xin Ping kneeling on the ground, supported by Guo Tu and Xin Pi. He could not make a sound but just waved his hands. His face was pale with severe pain and beads of sweat were oozing out of it.

Xu Xun stepped forward and picked up the object that had hit Xin Ping. After carefully examining the seal, he went to Yuan Shao and said, "My lord, this seems to be the seal of Master Xianyi."

Yuan Shao took up Yuan Xi's personal seal and examined it for a moment. He then turned and squatted in front of Xin Ping. Seeing Xin Ping holding his waist with one hand, Yuan Shao whispered, "Zhong Zhi?"

Seeing Xin Ping trying to open his mouth to answer, Yuan Shao immediately said, "Don't say anything. Help Zhong Zhi to my carriage."

Xin Pi and several other Yingchuan men worked together to help Xin Ping to the rear carriage. Xin Ping felt as if his waist and abdomen had been pierced. Only after lying down did he feel better. In an extremely weak voice, he said to Xin Pi, "If I cannot be cured, please tell my lord. If you want to attack the Zhao family, you must first defeat Gongsun Zan. Combine the forces of Yan and Zhao, divide them into several routes, and advance simultaneously. The Zhao family's foundation is unstable. If one point is lost, the whole situation will be over."

Xin Pi reached out and grasped Xin Ping's hand. After the intense pain, Xin Ping's mind became remarkably clear. "If we want to conquer the world, after securing the east and west of Taihang, we should first seize Yong and Liang Prefectures. The Central Plains is vast and lacks horses, making it difficult to hold on for long. You will surely capture them."

After forcing himself to say all this, Xin Ping's head tilted and he passed out from the pain.

"Brother?"

Xin Pi was extremely angry. He reached out to feel Xin Ping's breath. Seeing that he was still breathing, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He looked around again and saw that the chief clerk Geng Bao was looking at him with strange eyes, while the other Yanyu people were used to it.

Everyone abandoned their hometown and followed Yuan Shao to Hebei to start a business, certainly not to support the Liu family's rule.

At this time, more than a dozen of Zhang Yan's men also came to the shore mudflats. Zhang Yan couldn't help but take out his bow and shot an arrow at Yuan Shao.

Yan Liang stood in front of Yuan Shao holding a shield. At this moment, Yan Liang's feet were submerged in the river. He allowed Zhang Yan to shoot five or six arrows, most of which hit the shield and could not hurt Yuan Shao at all.

Zhang Yan turned to look at Zhao Ji: "Minister of the Imperial Court?"

"Even if Yuan Shao died here, the people who took your land would not admit defeat. They would most likely become attached to Gongsun Zan. Jizhou is right in front of him, waiting for his favor. I think Gongsun Zan would find it difficult to resist."

Zhao Ji said calmly, "If I break the alliance with you and go to war, they might also become my allies."

A captain of the Black Mountain Army asked dejectedly, "Sir, are we destined to be trapped in the mountains for generations to come?"

Zhao Ji turned his head and looked at the still robust middle-aged man. "How is this possible? Resources are scarce in the mountains, and raising a population is difficult. You will be extinct within three generations. How can you have descendants trapped in the mountains?"

Upon hearing this, the captains and lieutenants of the Black Mountain Army looked even worse. Zhao Ji was not joking with them.

It was just that on an inappropriate occasion, they revealed the reason why they are still fighting so hard.

Zhang Yan dropped his bow and said, "I know that the Minister of State has great strategic thinking and will surely have a good plan. Please teach us and enlighten us, even though we are dull-witted."

The other captains and lieutenants of the Black Mountain Army also bowed and said, "We are willing to obey the orders of the Minister of the Interior!"

Some people no longer want to fight back to their hometowns, and moving to Taiyuan or Hedong is acceptable.

"I must make one thing clear first. It's not that I don't want to kill Yuan Shao, but if we kill him now, we'll be facing Gongsun Zan, who controls Yan and Zhao. Yan and Zhao combined have no fewer than 300,000 armored men. Who in the world can stop them?"

"With Gongsun Zan like this, it would be extremely difficult for you all to return home and reclaim your ancestors' legacy in this lifetime."

"Let Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao fight each other now. We will also improve our administration and store up food and fodder. When there is a change in Yan and Zhao, we will launch a three-pronged attack with a 100,000-man army. It will surely be effective!"

Zhao Ji said in a deep voice, "After I reach an agreement with Yuan Shao, we will withdraw. If it is difficult to provide medical care for the wounded today, please send them all to the northwest camp, and I will treat them all."

The Black Mountain Army captains were slow to respond, so Zhang Yan answered first, bowing and saying, "I am willing to serve you at your command."

"I am willing to serve the Duke at his command."

The leaders of the various Black Mountain Army units responded in unison. Zhongshan Commandant Liu Sheng and Changshan Commandant Liu Qi also mixed in the crowd, bowing and shouting together.

Wei Xing, Ximen Jian and others were standing by and watching. At this moment, they looked at each other, and generally did not look very happy.

The Montenegrin Army is not a lump of mud that can be manipulated by anyone, so how could they obey orders obediently?
They have moved to various valleys and lived there for almost twelve years. Among those who have survived to this day, how many of them are the honest people who worked hard to open up wasteland and cultivate crops?
When they are really starving, they will still rob Yanmen, Daijun and northern Taiyuan.

Zhao Ji didn't have the kind of joy that would make a dozen people bow down to him just by shaking their body.

Anyway, good advice can be given, but whether it is listened to or implemented is up to the Montenegrin Army itself.

If anyone dares to cross the border to rob, Zhao Ji doesn't mind becoming enemies with them.

Everyone's base is limited. The priority is to ensure that the people of Taiyuan and Hedong have enough food and the Xiongnu have a place to graze. This is Zhao Ji's current priority.

On the south bank, Yuan Shao watched Zhang Yan and his group salute Zhao Ji and was not surprised at all.

He even had the energy to tease Guo Tu: "Zhao Yuansi forged an imperial edict to lure Zhang Yan's troops down the mountain to plunder. Someday the imperial court will issue an imperial edict and send an envoy to lead them. I'm afraid these Black Mountain bandits will obey the order and attack the Zhao bandits."

Guo Tu couldn't laugh, but just bowed slightly as a response.

(End of this chapter)