Tiger Guards

Chapter 61 Sharpening the Knife
At nightfall, Ximen Jian and several Tiger Guards returned to the camp on horseback, bringing with them eight horses.

With Hu Qian's family background, he couldn't gather eight mares of childbearing age at once, so there were three foals among them.

When Ximen Jian entered the camp, he greeted the soldiers guarding the gate.

After the gate-shooting match, he became a famous warrior in the camp.

After driving the herd of horses back to the eastern area where the Huben were located, Ximen Jian led four horses to Zhao Ji's barracks alone.

Han Shu was on duty outside the gate. Seeing this, he came forward with a smile and said, "Captain Ximen, has Hu Wengong cleared the horses?"

"Hu Wengong is a man of faith. He said eight mares, and that's it. There was no delay."

Ximen Jian pointed at the horses that were brought in and said, "I was able to get the horses from him thanks to Captain Zhao's excellent archery. I can't keep them all to myself, so I want to give two to Captain Zhao, and two to you and Captain Jia."

Han Shu looked at the mares and felt a little embarrassed. "The captain has already given me the prize. Including the riding slave, I now have three horses. If I have one more, I'm afraid it will be difficult to manage."

"Don't refuse. If it doesn't look good, you can sell it to someone else."

Ximen Jian handed the clenched reins to Han Shu and said, "You tie up the horse first. I'll go see the captain."

"Well, if the captain is willing to accept it, I will not be polite to Captain Ximen."

"Hahaha, it's just a horse. The village chief is a man who does great things. Why would he be so concerned about such things?"

Ximen Jian patted Han Shu on the shoulder and walked into the barracks.

In the hall, Zhao Ji was sitting in the main seat at this moment. The original meeting process was interrupted by Ximen Jian's voice outside the door.

Seeing Ximen Jian coming in, Zhao Ji pointed to an empty seat and said, "Sit down first."

"Here."

Ximen Jian stepped forward and sat with the other eleven team officers. Each Huben team had an average of more than forty people, with a total of twelve tactical teams.

Gong Cao Wei Gu, Fa Cao Pei Xiu, Cang Cao Jia Kui and Bu Cao Xue Yu stayed behind to guard the camp and the manor, while Cavalry Cao Wang Qi went to the battle.

Among the garrison commanders, in addition to Zhao Ji and Jia Tong, there were also Jing Chun from the third garrison, and Chang Mao, the commander of the fourth garrison.

The second garrison commander Wang Fu and the newly elected fifth garrison commander Heng Fang stayed behind.

Therefore, when the camp is currently discussing matters, only five people, Zhao Ji, Wang Qi, Jia Tong, Jing Chun, and Chang Mao, make decisions.

After Ximen Jian sat down, Zhao Ji looked at Jing Chun and said, "Wen Qing, please continue."

"Yes."

Jing Chun looked around at the others. "Ma Shizhi is trying to be cautious. He wants to gather his cousin Ma Shiwan, as well as Liang Xing, Li Kan, and Hou Xuan from Fenbei. This way, they can gather 8,000 soldiers and march south. They can use their momentum to overwhelm the enemy and drive out the traitor without bloodshed."

Twelve team officials were listening in, and Ma Shizhi's nephew Ma Shitong hung his head and fidgeted.

Logically speaking, he should be excluded from such a meeting.

But Zhao Ji believed that the rules should not be broken, so he asked someone to invite him.

Being eligible to attend a meeting is one thing, being grounded afterward is another.

Seeing no one spoke, Jia Tong laughed and said, "Gathering 8,000 troops and marching south is like driving away a pack of wolves, only to have another tiger return. If we unite with them, will we still have room to use our military power?"

He glanced around and turned to Zhao Ji: "Please ask Captain Zhao to tell Lord Zhao about our patriotism. Even with only 500 men, we can eliminate the traitors!"

Wang Qi was promoted to Cavalry Commander because of his experience in serving as a knight in Sanhe and fighting against the Yellow Turbans.

The original intention was to let him be responsible for training the Hu Ben cavalry combat skills, but time was too tight, so he could only make some experience-based comments when organizing the cavalry team.

After Jia Tong expressed his stance, Wang Qi also spoke up, "We can't wait. We've already sworn an oath on Bai Ma, and our morale is high. Liang Xing and the others, if you examine their background, are no different from the Bai Bo generals. If we join forces with them, we'll have endless trouble."

Chang Mao, the commander of the Fourth Battalion, also agreed and asked the other officers, "If we join forces with them to defeat the enemy, who among them would dare to charge into the front line? They are merely profit-seeking people. Joining forces with them would only ruin the image and morale of the Tiger Guards."

He also went to see Zhao Ji, and his attitude was even stronger: "If Ma Shizhi insists on staying, it shows that she has harbored evil intentions. We must not show any mercy."

Jia Tong shared this view: "Exactly. Right now, Ma Shizhi's troops are weak, and he only dares to use words and perverse logic to detain us. When Ma Shiwan, Li Kan and the others arrive with their troops, we will be outnumbered. I really can't imagine what he will dare to do then!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Shitong's once upright posture deflated, and he drooped his head in dejection. Zhao Ji, noticing the change in Ma Shitong's attitude, said, "Then march as planned. We'll move camp at four o'clock tomorrow. Tonight, Jia and Chang will guard the camp, and Cavalry Cao will take over the camp duties. I will go to Lord Zhao and explain the military's intentions."

Everyone bowed and said, "Yes."

Zhao Ji also bowed in return. When he stood up, he said to Wang Qi beside him: "Qi Cao, first of all, will ban the horses and arrows from entering the palace to prevent any harassment from the county soldiers."

Wang Qi agreed immediately. While they were having the meeting, the Tiger Guards in the camp strung their powerful crossbows and were on guard against friendly forces.

Jia Tong then asked, "Many of the soldiers in the Tiger Guard Battalion have horses, and I saw many county soldiers surrounding the stables, watching. What should we do if someone claims to have found a lost horse and comes to claim it, causing trouble?"

"Try to catch them alive."

Zhao Ji, however, addressed the others, saying, "Capture him alive! Don't hold back! Go and capture Ma Shizhi immediately! Even without him, without Ma Shiwan, without Li Kan and Hou Xuan, we can still eliminate the traitorous ministers!"

"Here!"

The Tiger Guards have been through many battles and their morale is high. Today's shooting at the gate has pushed their morale to the peak.

On the contrary, the morale of the county soldiers also tended to rise, but when they were hostile to Huben and Zhao Ji, this increased morale had to be lost and they suffered a layer of weakening.

The Hu Ben soldiers were all anxious to march south to suppress the enemy and did not want to be kept here.

If Zhao Ji had not considered Zhao Yan's feelings, he would have killed him with a sword when Ma Shizhi arranged the fake warrior to dance.

It was only the other side's suggestion of a shooting contest that diverted Zhao Ji's attention, otherwise he would have jumped up and attacked people when he could no longer restrain himself.

The meeting was disbanded, and Wang Qi led several team officers to drag Ma Shitong to the warehouse outside.

As Jia Tong left, he said to Zhao Ji, "Aji, working with someone like Ma Shizhi is bound to bring disaster upon you sooner or later. It's better if he doesn't move tonight, but if he does, I will not hold back."

"Brother Wenzhen, don't worry. If Lord Zhao doesn't object, we will start with him."

Zhao Ji raised his hand and slapped the armor on Jia Tong's back, making a clattering sound. "How dare you use a dancing girl to dress up as a samurai and play around at a military banquet? You're truly courting death!"

"Tonight?"

"Well, I originally wanted to keep them to stabilize the rear, but seeing how restless and ambitious they are now, keeping them would only bring trouble!"

Zhao Ji glanced at Ximen Jian and Tang Xian who remained in the room, then said to Jia Tong, "Be careful and alert. I still need to join forces with Xu Gongming."

Jia Tong nodded. In his eyes, Xu Huang, who was a subordinate of Yang Feng, was more reliable than Ma Shizhi. At least Xu Huang was strict in military discipline and looked like a pillar of the court.

Jia Tong was about to leave when Ximen Jian stopped him and said to Zhao Ji, "Captain, I was able to obtain eight horses thanks to your sharpshooting and Captain Jia's reminder. Hu Wengong gave me five large horses and three foals. I will keep one large and three small ones, and I want to divide the rest among you, Captain Jia, and Brother Han."

Jia Tong frowned. "You're taking such a small matter so seriously? I thought you discovered some important information when you left the camp!"

Ximen Jian smiled awkwardly and added, "Without the arrogance of the captain, Hu Wengong wouldn't have been so willing to hand over the horses. I have no way to express my gratitude, so this is all I can do."

Zhao Ji patted Jia Tong's arm and said, "This is Yuan Jie's kindness. Brother Wen Zhen, calm down. Brother Wen Zhen will choose first, Han Shu will choose second, and the rest will be given to me."

Jia Tong then glared at Ximen Jian and wanted to say some trash talk, but he felt that he shouldn't hurt Ximen Jian's face so much, so he said, "From now on... forget it, let's just do what we have to do. You gave me a horse, so I shouldn't have been angry. It's just my bad temper."

"I dare not. It is my fault that the chief is thinking about important matters."

Ximen Jian also quickly admitted his mistake. Seeing him like this, Jia Tong bowed to Zhao Ji and Ximen Jian and said, "I'll go wait outside."

Ximen Jian also hurriedly bowed to Zhao Ji and said, "Captain, I will take my leave."

Jia Tong had already walked to the door, and when he saw that Ximen Jian was not there to tell a secret, his face became even angrier.

Turning around and seeing Ximen Jian smiling apologetically, he felt even more helpless.

We were discussing how to properly fight against the county soldiers, but you were nagging about a few horses.

Tang Xian watched them leave and asked with a smile, "Captain, is Ma Shizhi really going to cause trouble?"

"We have Ma Shitong under house arrest, so Ma Shizhi is naturally uneasy. Okay, follow me to see Lord Zhao."

Zhao Ji reached out and picked up the helmet from the low table, put it on, and tightened the helmet strap.

(End of this chapter)