Tiger Guards

Chapter 6 Old Soldier's Night Talk
At night, the two ducks brought by Zhao Ji were stewed together with the meat brought by others, and all the volunteers had a full meal.

The starry sky was bright. Zhao Ji was used to living alone, and it was difficult for him to fall asleep when squeezed together with so many people.

They walked out of the house and saw two county soldiers warming themselves by the fire outside, seemingly watching them.

Seeing him come out, a county soldier asked, "Why isn't Mr. Zhao sleeping?"

"I like to be alone and can't stand noise or foot odor."

Zhao Ji walked over and sat cross-legged in front of the campfire, then asked, "Shall we set out tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow we will go to Beixiang, then north to Jiangyi. After gathering officials from various counties, we will go to Yicheng and enter Henei from the Chenguan Pass."

The county soldiers, holding smoking branches, drew a rough route in front of Zhao Ji: "The recruited men from all the counties in the prefecture will gather in Jiangyi. The county has also allocated weapons and armor."

Another county soldier, who had been napping, was a little unhappy to be woken up. He said unhappily, "We'll have to go through a selection process in Jiangyi. There are twenty counties in Hedong, and only twenty-five people from each county can be selected."

Zhao Ji was puzzled: "How can you complain about having too many people to protect the emperor?"

"Humph!"

The county soldier sneered and looked up at Zhao Ji, who had a large scar on his face. "When killing bandits, you complain about having too few people. When eating, you complain about having too many people. The emperor is in Henei, far away from Guanzhong, so naturally he dislikes having too many people eating."

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "The soldiers in Guanzhong are vicious, and the soldiers in Guandong are not friendly. I don't think this should be the case here."

"That's what you think. You're not a high official in the imperial court."

The scarred soldier took the water gourd, bit off the cork, raised his head and drank a long sip. He gathered his cloak and continued, "The emperor's tiger guards have been killed in batches. I heard that the tiger guards recruited in Hongnong are almost extinct. Don't be so stubborn and don't let anyone coax you into giving up your lives."

He sighed and looked down at the burning campfire in front of him. "Think about your parents and wife at home. It's not easy to raise you. Just live as long as you can."

Another county soldier was afraid that he would get into trouble, so he nudged him with his elbow. The scarred soldier just smiled and simply lay down on his side, curled up facing the campfire.

Zhao Ji looked around, then simply lay down on his side, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

I just lay down and relaxed my mind, and I thought about the feeling of Alan biting my toes.

Feeling a little aggrieved, he twisted his waist and changed into a comfortable position.

The county soldier on duty saw him like this and asked with a smile, "Is there a woman you can't let go of?"

Before Zhao Ji could answer, the scarred county soldier kicked him over: "Stop making noise!"

The county soldier who was kicked over laughed, then stopped laughing and just sighed.

Then he sat down and said, "It's hard to apply for the position. Among the five hundred young men in the county, how many can be promoted?"

Seeing no one respond, the county soldier added firewood to the campfire, looked at the dancing flames quietly, and lost himself in his own memories.

He was young once and had a wonderful youth.

He was in Hedong during the Yellow Turban Rebellion and avoided Dong Zhuo's Rebellion. The Guandong Rebellion also did not affect Hedong.

However, the Baibo Army that broke out in Hedong was very powerful, and this county was occupied by the Baibo Army for a long time.

Too many people who could not survive wrapped white scarves on their heads and joined the Baibo Army, and many innocent people were also dragged along.

As Wang Yi pacified the Baibo Army, life finally settled down.

However, the Huns moved south to Pingyang and Fenshui areas, and it was unknown when a new war would break out.

I just hope that the prince Wang Yi can calm the Huns and maintain stability in the county.

When Zhao Ji woke up, the sun was only a hint of orange.

The campfire was still burning brightly. The scarred county soldier, on night watch, saw Zhao Ji stand up and said, "The county can only send 25 people. There are 34 people here, plus the people from the north township. If you are sick, you will be eliminated."

"I want to go out and have a look. It's not a good life staying here." Zhao Ji rubbed his eyes, sat up straight to warm himself by the fire, untied his waist bag, took out three pieces of dried meat and gave them to the other party.

The other party didn't hesitate. He put a piece of dried meat in his mouth and said incoherently, "Your Zhao family is from outside. Hu Bingcao didn't know the seriousness of the matter and made you a sergeant. This is not a good thing. How many of these people in the room are your blood relatives? How many of them are your childhood playmates?"

Zhao Ji's bad memories were awakened. The Baibo Army passed through the border and the villages were destroyed.

His fellow villagers and many of his childhood playmates from nearby communities disappeared from his memory.

After the Baibo Rebellion, the Zhao family moved to the foot of the mountain in Xixiang because it was more remote, had fewer people, and fewer conflicts.

The scarred soldier glanced sideways at the house and lowered his voice to continue his threats: "If you offend them, you will be like my face, fighting desperately, but your companions will abandon you. No matter how brave you are, the armored soldiers will surround you and hold you back. Once your strength is exhausted, they will kill you."

She looked at Zhao Ji seriously and said, "If I were you, I would pretend to be sick when I got to Jiangyi. After returning home, I would sleep with their women and have lots of kids!"

Zhao Ji slowly chewed the hard, tough bacon, but still shook his head: "It's boring. How can a woman get promoted by killing people?"

"You stupid boy, why can't you figure it out?"

The scarred soldier took a sip from the water gourd to moisten his throat, his voice slurring as he said, "What's the point of being an official? Isn't it to find lots of women and father lots of children? With your looks and figure, women will love you. Why bother being an official? Staying in the countryside, you can live happily all day long, without anyone to control you. It's much more comfortable than being an official!"

"Give birth to dozens of children. When they grow up, the county will invite you to be an official."

The scarred county soldier swallowed, his expression vicious: "It's hard to make a name for yourself in this world. If you don't listen to me, when your head is chopped off and your body rots in the wilderness, eaten by birds and beasts, and covered in maggots... then you'll know I mean well."

Zhao Ji just smiled and said seriously, "You have some truth in what you said, but my family can't protect me. Even if I have to die, I will die outside. Unless my two brothers are gone, otherwise, disaster will come to my doorstep once I return from Jiangyi."

The cynical, scarred county soldier, who had his own philosophy of life, was surprised and looked Zhao Ji over carefully: "Then you should live well."

Zhao Ji looked down at his palms, the totem of 'cutting through thorns and brambles' flickered back and forth in his palms.

The scarred county soldier tilted his head to look at his palm and asked with a smile, "Has anyone else read your fortune?"

"Well, they say that I am destined to succeed at the cost of thousands of lives."

Zhao Ji smiled and said, "He also lectured me on military tactics for three days and tricked me into giving him two deer legs."

"You kid has met a noble man who knows military tactics... Hehe, he might be a deserter."

The county soldier was envious, but he didn't find it strange. Whether it was the relocation of the capital to Chang'an or the chaos in the Three Affiliated Prefectures, too many officials and scholars fled.

If someone is passing by and is penniless, it would be reasonable for them to cheat this guy for some food.

No matter how valuable the military strategy is, it is meaningless to those who are about to starve to death. It is not as important as a few pieces of meat.

At this time, two people walked out of the house one after another. They looked at Zhao Ji's back in front of the campfire, then looked at the scarred county soldier, and without saying a word, turned around and went to the back of the house.

After a while, two people came back with belts tied around their waists and returned to the house.

They alarmed the others, and driven by the urge to urinate, people came out one after another, almost following the smell, and went to the back of the house.

It's not their house, so there's nothing to worry about.

Seeing that Zhao Ji had lost his appetite, the scarred county soldier stretched out his hand. Zhao Ji smiled and gave the two remaining pieces of dried meat to him.

The person in front of us is quite important. Through his mouth, many people will know that he has learned military tactics.

When it comes to things like military strategy, if everyone thinks you have learned it, then your words will carry weight.

He sold some dried meat in exchange for a meat trumpet and stayed in the county, using his story as a topic of conversation.

As time accumulates, flowers will always bloom.

(End of this chapter)