Tiger Guards

Chapter 374 The Essence of War
In June, Nanyang suffered a poor harvest due to water shortage during the grain-filling stage.

Even if the harvest was poor, it was still life-saving food for Lü Bu, the imperial court, the natives of Nanyang, and outsiders.

After a brief movement, none of the armies took any further action.

Both military and civilian personnel are engaged in the rush to harvest and transport summer grain.

The same applies to the officials and people of Chen, and the scholars and people of Ru and Ying.

Because of the grain supply from Jingzhou in autumn and winter, the counties in the Ruying area still have the capacity to organize and mobilize the people to cultivate winter wheat and spring wheat.

This summer's harvest alone yielded a million shi of grain from the land reclamation project.

Unfortunately, many counties in the Ruying region suffered from Yuan Shu's extortion and began to actively or passively transport grain to Yuan Shu.

The Ruying River system flows into the Huai River, which will also become a high-speed channel for transporting grain.

Yuan Shu wasn't the only one eyeing the summer grain harvests of Chen and Ru; Zhao Ji and Lü Bu were also keeping a close eye on them.

Luoyang is hot and dry in summer.

As Zhao Ji walked through the military camp, the ground was so hot that he almost lost all feeling in his feet.

Inside the National Protection Army camp, Commander Pei Xiu hurried to greet them. The sun was scorching, and neither he nor the officers and soldiers in the camp wore armor; they were all dressed in light clothing.

After completing the rush to plant summer wheat, the National Protection Army conducted closed-camp training and no longer participated in subsequent agricultural production.

Zhao Ji didn't want to say anything. He followed Pei Xiu to the front of the barracks, took off his leather shoes, grabbed a wooden ladle in front of the door to fetch water and poured it on his feet. He then scooped up water to wash his face.

After washing my face, I felt refreshed. Before I could even roll up my sleeves to dry myself, I felt a warm breeze sweeping over me from under the eaves, and the water on my face dried almost instantly.

After changing into wooden clogs, Zhao Ji lowered his head and walked into the barracks: "I'm finally alive again."

Pei Xiu handed him a bowl of dandelion juice and said, "The officials and soldiers are suffering from the scorching heat. Could they be moved to the banks of the Luo River?"

“No, they can be taken to the river to play in the water and cool off every day at noon, but the camp must not be moved.”

Zhao Ji took the empty bowl to the earthenware pot and poured the paste into it himself. His eyes finally adjusted to the light in the room: "The seasons are out of order now, with unpredictable droughts and floods. If there is a sudden downpour, the Luo River will swell, making it difficult to move the camp and causing considerable damage."

He tilted his head back and drank the sour juice, chewed on dandelion roots, and then continued to drink a third bowl: "This is the army that protects the country and opposes Yuan Shikai. If the camp is washed away by a flood, what will happen to the morale?"

Pei Xiu could only nod and said, "Wei Gu has already joined the army and taken up his post. Would you like to see him, Aji?"

"He's gone. The anti-Yuan army is his chance. Once he seizes this opportunity, I'll host a banquet for him."

After Zhao Ji finished his third bowl of rice water, the heat in his lungs subsided. He put down the bowl and sat down at the table, looking thoughtful. "Seventh Brother, encourage him more. This time, the hard battle against Yuan can only be fought by the National Protection Army. This is a war of atonement."

During this period of scorching heat, the army's closed-camp training can only focus on the mornings and evenings, with morning drills and afternoon ideological education classes.

When the National Protection Army's eight thousand-man squads were deployed, they would definitely be used as the vanguard to create opportunities for other units to engage in combat.

Of the eight thousand-man squads, two were suicide squads; they were the sharpest spearheads in the entire army.

The National Protection Army consists of veteran soldiers who have been through countless battles and faced life-or-death tests. There is no need to repeatedly reiterate their combat experience; it is sufficient to strengthen their military discipline, obedience, and ideology.

The current closed-camp training and the stable life with three meals a day have awakened the long-dormant conscience of many soldiers in Guanzhong and their expectations for a better life.

Under Zhao Ji's sweeping reforms, the living standards of officials and people in Hedong and Taiyuan improved rapidly, which was an undeniable fact.

After a brief chat, Pei Xiu handed over a scroll of bamboo slips.

Zhao Ji also composed himself, picked up the book and began to read. It contained cases that had occurred in various teams during the closed camp period.

The gambling paraphernalia in the army had long been confiscated, but these guys still gambled with stones and straw.

They were all veterans with a strong gambling habit, gambling on everything from small things like food and drink to big things like military merits and spoils they hadn't yet earned.

Some gamblers even mortgaged their nonexistent wives in advance and lost them.

Of the so-called 8,000 National Protection Army soldiers, some were executed for committing crimes during the march, and many have suffered losses as a result during their current garrison duty.

Gambling is the most likely source of conflict. In the beginning, those who organized and ran gambling games were severely punished, but now it has evolved into private one-on-one gambling, with at most one or two people watching or witnessing. Zhao Ji patiently reviewed these files on the punishment of gambling, as well as the files on the fights that resulted from it.

Minor and medium-sized penalties have been implemented, but beheading requires Zhao Ji's signature.

After reading it, he took a pen and signed the end of the file, saying: "The soldiers are fond of gambling, which must be strictly curbed. From now on, officers and soldiers involved in gambling will be exempted from punishment and transferred to other battalions if they report it first; the rest will be assigned to the disciplinary battalion. The two battalions of daredevils will lead the way, followed by the disciplinary battalion."

The atmosphere among the two battalions of daredevils was relatively better; they were severely punished for even minor offenses, and those involved in gambling or fighting would be executed.

Pei Xiu also explained, "During the previous closed-camp training, the officers and soldiers were exhausted from morning and evening work and had no free time to gamble. Now, there are two free hours every day at noon, which has led to these incidents. By the end of the month, they will be much more restrained."

"This is not a reason for their involvement in gambling. Officials involved in gambling will be recorded separately. In the future, if they have merits, their promotion will be limited to squad leaders. If they are promoted any higher, they will be transferred to local positions to be responsible for border defense."

People who are addicted to gambling and can still rise through the ranks should not be used to manage personnel or guard warehouses.

In remote areas, fortifications, beacon towers, and outposts all require dedicated personnel for defense.

These officials, whose positions are restricted, clearly lack powerful backers. If they make even the slightest mistake in their local area, higher-ups will definitely prioritize eliminating or removing them.

A person who is addicted to gambling is already corrupt at heart.

Given the right opportunity, I'd be willing to gamble not only my own life, but even my country's.

In terms of instability, gamblers are just as untrustworthy as fools.

Having made his decision, Pei Xiu offered no further explanation. He picked up a small booklet bound with rough paper, took a pen, and wrote down Zhao Ji's words to avoid forgetting them later.

It wasn't that Pei Xiu was deliberately putting on a show; Zhao Ji also had to manage the Five Battalions and the Tiger Step Army, so all the affairs of the Protectorate Army fell on Pei Xiu's shoulders.

He carries a small notebook to keep track of things, which helps him manage his work efficiently.

Then he picked up the bamboo slip case file signed by Zhao Ji, which listed five people who needed to be executed. Pei Xiu tried to persuade him: "Grand Marshal, since you are going to set up a disciplinary camp, why not include these people in the disciplinary camp?"

"One thing at a time. If we handle it this way, the officers and soldiers in the camp will think that you and I are exonerating these officers who committed serious crimes. Besides, you have already punished the other officers involved in gambling, so it is not appropriate to add them to the disciplinary battalion. Later, we will gather all the officers and soldiers and carry out the executions in public. After the executions, we will announce the matter of the disciplinary battalion. Also, you should convey the arrangement that officers involved in gambling will not be given important positions in the future through the military officers, and do not leave it in writing."

"Here."

Pei Xiu cupped his hands, took the case file, walked out of the barracks, and handed it to his subordinates. The mass executions would take place in the afternoon when the weather was cooler.

Zhao Ji came here to oversee the execution and to support Pei Xiu, preventing a mutiny.

Pei Xiu returned to his barracks, made himself a bowl of dandelion tea, and after finishing his official business, he loosened his clothes, carried the tea to the table, and asked, "Ruying and Chen have had a bountiful summer harvest, while Nanyang has suffered a poor harvest due to drought. Will Lü Bu send troops to Wankou to plunder the grain of Ruying and Chen?"

Zhao Ji also changed his expression, sitting lazily on the wooden chair: "He probably has this idea, but he is in a hurry to send troops now, which has two disadvantages, actually three disadvantages. First, it is difficult to march in the hot summer, and it is also difficult to fight."

"Secondly, he is waiting for the Yizhou troops. The Jingzhou troops have already arrived in Nanyang, and he is waiting for the Yizhou troops. Only after they arrive can he command the various armies to form a large army and march out of Wankou. This mighty force can awe people even before the battle begins. If he rushes to send troops now, it will be too hasty. If he leads his trusted main force out of Wankou, and the Yizhou troops arrive in Nanyang later, if chaos breaks out, the excellent situation will be lost."

As Zhao Ji spoke, he looked up at the roof of the barracks, which was made of various new and old wood pieces, including some precious wood with carvings: "Thirdly, Yuan Shu has begun to forcibly requisition the grain reserves of Ru and Ying counties. This will take time and offend people. Let Yuan Shu do the offending thing. I will send troops after he has plundered most of it."

The counties of Ru and Ying will not obediently give grain to Yuan Shu; this is not something that can be accomplished simply by officials supporting Yuan Shu.

Only when Yuan Shu's army entered the Ruying region could these officials use both soft and hard tactics to persuade the people to produce grain and mobilize them to transport it.

If Yuan Shu's army stays in Chen and doesn't come to Ruying, and the officials of Ruying force the people to transport grain... do they really think the people and disaster victims can't break their skulls with their hoes?
Therefore, the actual transport of grain could only begin after Yuan Shu marched his army to Ru and Ying.

In this sweltering heat, I don't even want to move here, so why would Yuan Shu's army be mobilized?
Let alone wearing a helmet and two-piece armor, even wearing a cloth helmet, military uniform, and uniform, and carrying long and short weapons and ranged weapons, would cause heatstroke if you walked a long distance.

Upon hearing this, Pei Xiu asked, "So, the first battle with Yuan Shu was about seizing the summer grain from Ruying?"

"Yes, we need to compete for the grain of Ruying, the grain of Chen, and also the grain of Xuzhou and Huainan."

Zhao Ji said with a strange expression, "Killing more of the rebel Yuan soldiers won't fill our stomachs. Summer and autumn grains are the lifeblood of this battle. Whoever captures the most grain will have the last laugh. Anyway, try not to touch the grain in Luoyang; it's life-saving grain."

Pei Xiu understood. Sitting opposite Zhao Ji, she couldn't help but sigh, "Last year we were doing it for food, and this year it's still for food."

Zhao Ji simply smiled and said, "It's better to fight a war if you have enough to eat. It's good if everyone is of one mind and has a simple heart."

(End of this chapter)