My younger brother Lü Fengxian

Chapter 24 Corrupt official? Loyal minister?
The Zade tribe is a new medium-sized tribe in the nearby grassland.

He has thousands of herdsmen and tens of thousands of cattle and sheep under his command.

There were as many as eight hundred soldiers operating the bows.

In this remote grassland where there are no large tribes, he can be said to be a local tyrant.

He has been bullying others for many years.

Not only did they extort other small tribes, they also plundered caravans along the way.

They even dared to attack the Great Wall at will. Huang Yi had fought with them several times and defended the pass with great difficulty.

Such a prosperous and powerful tribe unexpectedly capsized today and fell into the hands of a merchant caravan that set foot on the grassland for the first time. It has to be said that this is really a retribution.

"There is no false reputation under a great name. Brother Lu Yi has proven through this battle that the title of Bingzhou's greatest hero is well-deserved."

"Huang Yi admires me!"

After Huang Yi dismounted from his horse, he suddenly bowed to Lu Yi and praised him with full conviction.

"General Huang, what do you mean by this? How can a commoner like Lu Yi accept such a great honor from the general?"

Lu Yi hurried forward to support him.

"No, this bow is for the Han people who died in vain at the hands of the Zhade tribe and for the soldiers who died in battle under my command!"

Huang Yi, however, insisted on performing the salute despite Lu Yi's obstruction.

This made Lu Yi look at him with a higher opinion.

It seems that although Huang Yi is greedy for money, he has no bottom line. It seems that there must be some unknown reason.

"This war has just ended. Not only did we luckily defeat the invaders from the Zade tribe, but we also saved the young chieftain Hatler from the Hunye tribe. We are planning to host a banquet to entertain Hatler."

"I don't want to meet General Huang by chance in this frontier. If General Huang doesn't mind, you can come with us to the table!"

Lu Yi invited warmly.

He had originally planned to do business honestly, but now seeing such a strong ally appear, a somewhat bold plan suddenly emerged in his mind.

However, the plan is still very rough, so it is a good opportunity to learn more about the specific situation from Hartler and Huang Yi and fill in the gaps.

"It's what I want, and I dare not refuse!" Huang Yilan agreed with a smile. He ran for twenty miles in full armor and was now extremely thirsty.

Zhang Jia set up a simple banquet in the middle of the camp. Everyone sat on the ground, with wine and food placed casually in front of them.

Now that we are in the frontier, there are naturally not so many things to pay attention to.

In this battle, Lu Yi not only seized a lot of war horses, but also harvested more than 30 dead horses.

He lacked the means to preserve horse meat, so he just cooked all the more than 30 dead horses to entertain Huang Yi and Hartler.

After a few drinks, everyone gradually became familiar with each other, and Lu Yi took the opportunity to tell Huang Yi about his doubts.

"Brother Huang, as the commander of the Great Wall Pass, why would you suddenly go 20 miles outside the Great Wall to look for us?"

"Brother Lu Yi, you may not know that in addition to defending against foreign invaders, the guards at the pass also have to patrol the border from time to time to keep an eye on the movements of the surrounding foreign races."

"After you came out of seclusion, I saw a lot of smoke and dust rising in the direction you were heading. It must be an attack by bad guys, so I led the troops out to support you."

"So that's how it is!" Upon hearing this, Lu Yi looked at the complicated Han Dynasty guard in front of him with some surprise.

"You are so kind?" Lü Bu, who had been drinking silently because he was upset with Huang Yi, couldn't help but look at him sideways. "Don't be rude, second brother!" Lü Yi immediately scolded Lü Bu after hearing this.

A gentleman is judged by deeds rather than intentions. Huang Yi's rescue mission, which took 20 miles outside the Great Wall, was a favor to Lu Yi and others no matter what.

"Alas... Brother Lu Bu seems to have a deep prejudice against me!" Huang Yi sighed, and without waiting for Lu Yi and others to ask questions, he explained the reason.

"It's not that I'm corrupt and greedy, but the court has been looking down on us border guards. Not only has the military pay been in arrears for more than half a year, but even the military rations have been withheld."

"Ever since the emperor openly sold official positions in the West Garden, corruption has become rampant in the officialdom. These people paid a lot of money to buy official positions, so how could they not make a lot of money while in office? The military pay and rations of 10,000 coins distributed from above were taken away by officials at all levels, and only a few hundred coins were left in our hands."

"With this little food, let alone supporting our family, it's not even enough for us to eat and drink."

"Brother, if you don't follow the local customs and engage in corruption, not to mention guarding the border for the court, all of our officers and soldiers will starve to death within three months!"

Having said that, Huang Yi sighed deeply and drank the wine in the cup in one gulp.

"How could such a thing happen!" Upon hearing this, Lu Bu realized that he had misunderstood Huang Yi. He quickly stepped out of the crowd and bowed to Huang Yi to apologize: "It turns out that I was wrong about General Huang!"

"It's okay, it's okay!" Huang Yi waved his hands repeatedly, signaling Lu Bu not to take it to heart, and then said to Lu Yi and others.

"I am leaving the border this time because I am worried about the safety of my brother's caravan and because I am worried about the Xiongnu army's harassment, so I am patrolling the border."

"I see!" Lu Yi nodded, and suddenly asked, "But General Huang only has one hundred cavalrymen under his command. If they encounter a large force of Xiongnu, wouldn't it be dangerous?"

"Humph, a man who is receiving salary from his master, how can he retreat because of fear of danger? If my luck is really that bad, then I can only serve my country with all my heart!"

"However, even if I die, the Xiongnu's plan to attack quietly will fail. In this way, I will die a worthy death!"

Huang Yi's words were full of righteousness, which completely changed the prejudice of Lu Yi and others that he was blackmailing them.

"Lü Bu almost misunderstood a loyal and good man!" Lü Bu showed shame on his face and quickly raised his glass to Huang Yilian, saying, "Lü Bu offers a toast to General Huang. Please drink it up!"

"We also toast to General Huang!" Not only Lu Bu, but also Gao Shun, Hao Meng, Hou Cheng and others felt their blood boiling when they heard the words, and they toasted Huang Yi together.

"Human nature is so complicated..." Lu Yi also raised his glass to toast.

"Hahaha, you are all heroes of Bingzhou, let's drink together!" Huang Yi was very considerate and drank the whole glass, and his relationship with everyone became more familiar.

"Since Brother Huang risked his life to rescue us, we must repay this kindness!" Lu Yi suddenly said.

"It just so happens that we have captured the head of the Zhade tribe, and since we are all commoners, there is no use for us to keep it. We might as well give it to my brother to take back to Bingzhou, so that we can ask for credit from the court."

"Hmm? Are you serious?!" Huang Yi said happily after hearing that.

"It's more real than real gold!" Lu Yi said with a smile.

"Haha, that's great!" Huang Yi immediately stood up excitedly, rubbing his hands excitedly.

"What do you mean, brother?" Lu Yi asked in surprise.

"Hehe, actually, another reason why I came out of seclusion is to find an opportunity to capture some Hu people's heads as military merit."

"My dear brother, you don't know that the emperor not only sells official positions himself, but also orders all officials who have not bought their positions to hand over their money."

"Brother, all the little money you earn from the pass is used to support the army. How can you have any money left to hand over to the emperor? I can only find an opportunity to make military achievements to offset it."

"Brother, this has solved my urgent problem!"

(End of this chapter)