Tiger Guards

Chapter 686 Straight to the Heart
Pingyang Camp, Guard Camp.

Pei Xiu, the military commander, had a sleepless night. At dawn, the drums were beating in the camp, and Pei Xiu, exhausted, went to his barracks.

He sipped his strong tea and read the military reports submitted by each battalion. His main duty as the military guard was to mediate disputes between the battalions and generals.

As long as he is relatively fair in his actions, everyone will give him face.

Sometimes when conflicts arise between two parties, it's either because there's a genuine misunderstanding, or because one party is overly greedy, domineering, and unreasonable, or because both parties are greedy and fierce, belonging to the type of personality that feels like they're losing out if they don't get a benefit.

In this world of scarcity, if being domineering can lead to a larger share of resources or credit, then everyone will be more likely to act recklessly and arrogantly.

Because Zhao Ji personally supervised the Pingyang camp, there were not many disputes between the various units.

However, recently, perhaps due to the monotonous life in the camps and the approaching end of the year, the officers and soldiers have been harboring pent-up emotions for a long time, and conflicts between the camps have been increasing day by day, with frequent armed clashes within each camp.

Pei Xiu, lacking sleep and with limited patience, quickly skimmed through the documents, organized similar military texts into a stack, grabbed one and held it in his hand, then picked up his helmet and put it on. He stood up and walked outside, saying, "Bring the carriage; I'm going to see the military advisor."

"Here."

Near the barracks were small stables and wooden sheds for parking carriages. Pei Xiu had only walked a few steps out of the barracks when a carriage stopped in front of him, and more than a dozen riders came to the stables to untie the horses' ropes.

Before long, Pei Xiu arrived at the central army camp.

Here, the garrison commander Zhang Hong and the military advisor Jia Xu each built their own administrative centers on either side of the central army camp.

Pei Xiu went directly to the military advisor's camp where Jia Xu was stationed. Jia Xu did not come out to greet Pei Xiu, so Pei Xiu took the initiative to enter the camp to pay his respects.

Inside the warm barracks, Jia Xu was riding a wooden horse, one hand gripping the handle extending from the horse's ear, the other hand holding a piece of dried meat that he occasionally put into his mouth to chew.

The wooden horse swayed back and forth, its head facing a sand table map made up of two large tables. The core area of ​​the map was a depiction of the garrison layout of the various armies in the Pingyang camp.

Behind the wooden horse hangs a map of the mountains and rivers of Xizhou, which is currently commonly used. It mainly depicts the prefectures and counties west of the Taihang Mountains and north of the Qinling Mountains.

"Mr. Wenhe."

After Pei Xiu bowed, he took the initiative to step forward and accompany Jia Xu to observe the sand table and search for changes in it.

Jia Xu merely glanced at Pei Xiu: "Wenli, what brings you here?"

"I received a letter from my cousin yesterday. I am in a bad mood and would like to ask the strategist for advice."

"Since this is a family letter, and I am an outsider, how can I offer advice?"

Jia Xu got up from the wooden horse, which belonged to his son, and he looked somewhat out of place riding it.

Leading Pei Xiu into the inner room, Jia Xu poured her hot tea and said methodically, "Family matters should not be known to outsiders like me. I do not know the cause of the family disputes, so how can I offer any advice?"

Jia Xu himself reached out and grabbed the handle of the bamboo cup, tilted his head back to smell the tea, glanced at Pei Xiu's changing expression, and continued, "If it involves official business, Wenli might as well try to explain."

"I don't know if it involves official business, but it does involve the family affairs of the Duke of Hedong."

Pei Xiu sighed and handed the official document he had brought to Jia Xu: "Mr. Wenhe, as the year draws to a close, the officers and soldiers in the camp are missing their families and are becoming increasingly restless, which has led to frequent brawls. I think that severely punishing them all will surely serve as a warning to the officers and soldiers and will have a remarkable effect."

Jia Xu put down his teacup, took the official documents, and quickly flipped through them. He soon came to a page where the paper was noticeably whiter, unlike the paper used for military documents.

This was a handwritten note, which Jia Xu read silently. He then looked at other military documents: "If Wenli implements strict laws, she will lose the affection of the officers and soldiers." "Thank you for your guidance, Mr. Wenhe."

Pei Xiu held the teacup with both hands, blew on it a few times, and seeing that the temperature wasn't very high, drank it all in one gulp.

He immediately took the stack of military documents from Jia Xu, bid farewell to Jia Xu, and made no attempt to conceal his whereabouts, taking his cavalry and guards to meet Zhang Hong, the garrison commander.

Zhang Hong also flipped to the page other than the military dispatch. He looked up at Pei Xiu and said, "How could parents do such an unloving thing? In my opinion, this must be the work of a villain trying to disrupt the mind of the Protector General. He should be eliminated immediately. If the Protector General finds it difficult to do so, I, Zhang, can do it for him."

Zhang Hong was not familiar with Pei Xiu, unlike Jia Xu, whose infamy was known throughout the land and who was indignant. To protect himself, Jia Xu and Zhao Yan began to cooperate, and Zhang Hong first formed a clan alliance with Jia Kui, becoming distant relatives of the same generation.

He then adopted the posture of wanting to take Pei Xiu as his disciple and teach him military strategy, which made Jia Xu integrate into Hedong quickly and without seeming abrupt.

Zhang Hong was different; he was a former official of Zhao Yu, and he came to help Zhao Ji to avenge his patron, Zhao Yu.

After taking revenge, she also had to help Zhao Yu's adopted son establish a career and start a family.

Throughout, Zhang Hong served Zhao Ji as Zhao Yu's protégé; later, among Zhao Ji's sons, whoever was adopted by Zhao Yu as his heir, Zhang Hong would do his utmost to assist them.

Therefore, Zhang Hong was not familiar with the people of Hedong, nor with Pei Xiu.

However, Zhang Hong was different from Jia Xu. Jia Xu had no connection with the Zhao family, while Zhang Hong and Pei Xiu, though not familiar with each other, were both key figures and henchmen of the Zhao family.

When Pei Xiu presented the copy of "Slaying the Traitor Zhao Jiwen," Jia Xu pretended not to see it and offered no specific solutions.

Zhang Hong was different; he acknowledged Zhao Yu, Zhao Yan, Zhao Ji, and Zhao Yu's adopted son, but he did not acknowledge Zhao Ji's parents and brothers.

Zhang Hong reread the copy of the paper tucked inside the military dispatch: "No, this is no longer something that the Protector General can handle alone. I must take action."

He pulled the paper out of the military book, folded it, and put it deep into his waist pouch. After fastening the leather buckle, Zhang Hong stood up, reached out and grabbed the rope, which was connected to the bells outside via several pulleys.

As the bell rang, Guan Hai, who was on duty, strode in, clad in gleaming armor and with two swords at his waist: "Chief Secretary, Guardian."

"I have a difficult task for you to handle. Don't worry about harming the innocent; try your best to catch them all in one fell swoop."

Zhang Hong looked straight ahead, meeting Guan Hai's gaze as Guan Hai leaned down and looked up at him. Zhang Hong's expression was serious: "I would rather arrest a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person escape. I would rather apologize and make amends to each and every one of the wronged people afterward than let even one of the culprits get away."

"Yes, I will finally understand."

Guan Hai was confident, since Pei Xiu, the military commander, was also there to testify, so he wasn't afraid that Zhang Hong would go back on his word or deny it later.

Zhang Hong then turned to look at Pei Xiu: "Commander, now that things have come to this, we absolutely cannot tolerate or let the traitors go unpunished. This concerns the reputation of the Grand Tutor's family, and it is no small matter."

Pei Xiu understood Zhang Hong's intention, so he took out his personal gold waist token and handed it to Guan Hai: "Go and arrest Yang Tai, the county magistrate of Wenxi. He entered the camp yesterday to escort supplies and is still in the camp at the moment."

"So there were accomplices in the military?"

Zhang Hong pressed further, and seeing no rebuttal from Pei Xiu, he turned to Guan Hai and said, "Take action immediately. After I have met with the strategist, I will seal off all the camps!"

"Here!"

As one of the four tribes of Qingzhou, Guan Hai was also very anxious, and had long wanted to join the Langya people in purging the Hedong people.

(End of this chapter)