Tiger Guards

Chapter 547 Capacity Improvement
In the third year of Jian'an, on the first day of the first lunar month, shortly after the beginning of spring.

The first batch of supplies shipped from Jinyang arrived in Wuyuan, bringing with it a large number of family letters that could stabilize the morale of the troops.

Zhao Ji personally inspected the warehouse, with Zhang Liao following him. In addition to the various tools and supplies, Zhao Ji mainly inspected the spring military uniforms.

Xiang Libao personally supervised the transport, leading Zhao Ji to inspect the neatly stacked packages. These packages were square, all for easy sealing and transportation.

These coarse linen packages were sealed with flat ribbons woven from multicolored silk ribbons, which were then stamped with lead.

If any of the webbing, burlap sacks, or printing marks are damaged, it indicates that there was a problem during the transportation process inside the bag.

The supplies were transported directly to Wuyuan City, where Zhao Ji was located. Therefore, the head of the local government inspected them very readily. As long as the stamps were correct and the silk woven straps and burlap sacks showed no signs of patching, they were all put into storage.

If any problems arise during subsequent distribution and use, the person who sealed the lead seal can be traced.

It's not time for the spring military uniforms to be issued yet, so there's no need to start now. If we start now, it will be the Chief of Staff, the relevant garrison troops, and military officers who will be worried.

Zhao Ji ordered his men to open a package of military uniforms. The uniforms in each package were the same size and style, including an undershirt, shorts, outer robe, trousers, cape, shawl, armbands, two pairs of socks, a set of foot bindings, two pairs of straw sandals, and one pair of cloth shoes.

Each set of military uniforms was also packed into a tight little package, wrapped in the issued foot binding cloth, and then tied with thin hemp rope, making the whole thing look like a rectangular pillow.

After inspecting several small packages, Zhao Ji picked up the straw sandals to check their craftsmanship, as the quality of the straw sandals was the most unpredictable among them.

After putting the straw sandals back in their original place, one of Zhao Ji's personal guards stepped forward to repack them, piling them together with other small packages into a sack, tying the sack tightly with a flat strap, and resealing it with lead.

Zhao Ji then walked to the next storage shed and said to Xiang Libao, who was following beside him, with emotion, "Seeing these shoes and socks reminds me of when the Tiger Warriors were first formed. We didn't even have uniforms of the same color."

Xiangli Bao's mind flashed back to the Tiger Warrior who was kicked to death by a horse while feeding it. At this moment, his face showed a smile full of remembrance: "Yes, back then, when the emperor was in distress, the officials and nobles accompanying him were all dressed in rags. How could they possibly gather uniforms and flags of the same color?"

Rui Dan's death has now become an unsolved mystery.

Xiangli Bao, a leader of the county's elite guards, didn't care about the accidental death of one of his guards on the day the incident occurred. He was so engrossed in watching the spectacle that he had no idea what Rui Dan's corpse looked like, or what its size and build were.

As for the cause of Rui Dan's death, some of the Tiger Warriors firmly believed that Rui Dan was unlucky when feeding the horses and was kicked to death by a startled horse; there are also related variant views that the Grand Marshal's fellow villager was too poor and was kicked to death by the horse when he stole horse feed.

The truth is that only a dozen or so people actually witnessed Zhao Ji throwing a punch... Time will blur everything, and now some of those dozen or so people have changed their minds. They feel that Rui Dan was first kicked by the horse and suffered internal injuries, and then, after a period of strenuous activity, she suddenly died.

At the time, all the Tiger Warriors in the camp said that Rui Dan was kicked to death by a horse. It's impossible that they were all lying. Perhaps the punch that the Grand Marshal threw was not the cause of Rui Dan's death at all.

Xiangli Bao couldn't even remember Lian Ruidan's name clearly, but he remembered very clearly that the dead Hu Ben had stolen and worn the Grand Marshal's deerskin boots.

The Grand Marshal emphasized military discipline, requiring sturdy armor and durable boots to ensure agility when pursuing enemies and quick escape when the battle turned against him.

However, Xiang Libao was only in charge of transportation work. Although he didn't want to do this job, he couldn't control the quality of the military uniforms sent from the rear.

He chatted with Zhao Ji along the way and then began to inspect the leather boots assigned to the military officers. These were of excellent quality... but unfortunately they were shipped to the wrong place.

After spring arrives, a large quantity of raw leather will be tanned, and the Wuyuan area will be able to produce a large number of military leather products.

Therefore, Zhao Ji only casually inspected the leather boots assigned to military officers and heavily armored soldiers. Some of these boots had soles made of multiple layers of leather, coated and glued together, making them hard-soled. The extended boot shafts acted like greaves, providing excellent leg protection for the soldiers.

Even if a venomous snake bites you, it's difficult to penetrate the wound; and even if it does, the amount of venom injected is less than normal.

After inspecting the warehouse, Zhao Ji led Xiangli Bao to his council hall, where a horizontal plaque with the three characters "White Tiger Hall" hung.

Inside the White Tiger Hall, a massive sand table, spanning eight thousand li from east to west and five thousand li from north to south, has taken shape.

There are always five soldiers on duty here. To avoid them getting tired from long shifts, they sit while on duty. There are a total of four shifts of soldiers taking turns on duty.

Inside the hall, Xiangli Bao could immediately discern the enemy's and his own situation, and even clearly see Zhao Ji's planned route for the spring offensive.

Zhang Liao was already used to it. He had also participated in the planning of the route. After entering the warm inner hall, he took off his helmet and hung it on the rack.

Zhao Ji stood before the sand table, his gaze fixed on the north and south of the Yin Mountains. His spring offensive was simple: lead his army eastward. The number of kills was not important; the main goal was to absorb various miscellaneous tribes and use them to dilute the Xianbei and Xiongnu populations.

Then they turned north around the north side of Yinshan Mountain and then west, joining forces with Xu Huang's army in the Helan Mountain area during the summer and autumn, before splitting their troops to enter the central and western parts of Liangzhou.

Following the example of Youzhou, they also absorbed the minority groups of the Qiang and Hu tribes, while promoting their power and redistributing the unclaimed and tax-free lands of Liangzhou.

Whether they are powerful Han officials or local leaders of various Hu tribes, those who are willing to pay taxes according to the rules are definitely good people.

If the powerful Han and Hu tribes in Liangzhou were willing to yield, Zhao Ji didn't want to waste too much time. If they refused to yield, then the war would begin in the autumn.

As Zhao Ji pondered these thoughts, his gaze fell upon the Ma Teng war pieces on the sand table.

Ma Teng was sensible enough that in late December his son Ma Chao led more than 2,000 infantry and cavalry to Anding and Beidi to fight under Xu Huang's command.

After waiting a moment, Zhao Ji asked, "Do you know what we should do this year?"

Xiangli Bao stared at the north of Yinshan: "I have some clues. Does the Grand Marshal intend for me to travel out of Chouyang Avenue in the height of summer and meet him in the central part of the north of Yinshan?"

“Look, everyone says you’re suited to be a grain officer. You saw right through my failure to retreat westward from Raoyin during this eastern expedition.”

Zhao Ji joked that there are three main roads running east-west and north-south through the Yinshan Mountains: the East Road, the West Road, and the Chouyang Avenue in the middle, north of Wuyuan.

Zhao Ji picked up his baton and gestured at several key points: "If I retreat westward north of Yinshan, either the Hu tribes will flee, and our army will be unable to do anything. In that case, we will inevitably run out of supplies when we cross the northern entrance of Chouyang Road. We will need to replenish at least 10,000 warhorses. I need you to escort 10,000 empty carts, 10,000 warhorses, and 10,000 draft horses along Chouyang Road."

Looking up at Xiang Libao, he said, "There are only two outcomes: either we join forces and head west to meet Xu Gongming at Helan Mountain; or I will reap a rich harvest, and you will escort the herds of beasts and prisoners south to return to Wuyuan. Then we will wait for my orders to act."

Xiangli Bao nodded. The current challenge is to use local materials to make the necessary vehicles before June.

As for warhorses and draft horses, they are treasures in the Central Plains, but at this moment they are not really valuable to our side.

Xiangli Bao pondered briefly, then asked, "May I ask, Grand Marshal, what will you do if the various Donghu tribes pursue us relentlessly?"

"Then let's eat them."

Zhao Ji said casually, "In that case, you can still lead ten thousand chariots to the east to meet me."

Xiangli Bao nodded and asked no more questions. Zhao Ji reassured him, "Logistics and transportation depend on personal experience and talent. It is a good thing if people can make the most of their abilities. This year, when we seal the Wolf Mountain, you should accompany me."

"Yes."

Xiangli Bao responded, realizing that he could have used the sled to transport the supplies from Jinyang to Wuyuan much earlier.

However, Xianglibao adjusted the transportation capacity within the borders, shortened the transportation distance, transferred supplies from Jinyang to Mengmenguan, and when the Qin-Jin Grand Canyon was frozen, transferred them more than 100 miles to the north and stockpiled them in large quantities.

This is the southern end of the Yellow River's upper reaches, where water transport will resume after the spring flood season ends. This will allow for lower-cost transportation to the five counties of Wuyuan.

Xiangli delayed the delivery of supplies to Wuyuan, but prioritized the short-distance transfer of surplus supplies from Taiyuan and Hedong, reducing the significant losses of animal herds during sled transport and increasing the annual transfer efficiency by at least two times.

This achievement accumulates much faster than killing people on the front lines.

Even if the transportation routes and methods were suggested and improved by Xiangli Bao's subordinates, Xiangli Bao dared to put them into practice and promote them, so the credit should be given to him.

Faced with Xiang Libao's enthusiasm for his work, Zhao Ji naturally couldn't bear to let him go to the front lines to lead troops into battle.

Of course, it is also possible that Xiangli Bao deliberately adopted his subordinate's bold transportation reform plan, intending to mess things up and thus get himself transferred from his transportation post.

But that doesn't matter. He can double the efficiency of the transportation system. Even if Xiang Libao is drunk and sits at work all day, acting as a hands-off manager, Zhao Ji can tolerate it.

(End of this chapter)