Tiger Guards

Chapter 48: Insects and Jackals
As the sun set, more than 300 soldiers recruited by Xu Huang entered the military camp outside Jiangyi City.

This military camp is located at the river mouth where the Huishui River meets the Fenshui River. From the surrounding ruins, it can be seen that this place was once a prosperous and important transportation hub.

It was only after crossing the river that Xu Huang learned that the Tiger Guards had attacked the Hou family manor last night, and he was terrified.

Just let Yang Feng and others come and extort some supplies from the Hou family.

The Huben actually succeeded in a surprise attack. Although it is not clear how they did it, this audacity has exceeded Xu Huang's expectations.

Yang Feng and his men raised an army to plunder the people, they were the Baibo bandits; Wei Gu, Pei Xiu and Jia Kui ordered the Hu Ben to attack the powerful Hou family... this was naturally to suppress the clan bandits, how can the two be compared?
When the county magistrate Zhao Xu saw that they had entered the camp, he said to Zhao Yan, "Lord Zhao, a banquet has been prepared in the city."

"Alright."

Zhao Yan agreed and turned to look at Zhao Ji beside him: "Aji, send someone to invite all the heroes in the camp."

"Lord Zhao, I'm afraid I can't attend the banquet."

Zhao Ji glanced at the county officials and representatives of nearby powerful figures standing behind Zhao Xu. "Since last night's execution of the clan traitor Hou, I still don't know how the wounded in the camp are being treated. I still need to discuss with the Wei Gong Cao, Jia Cang Cao, and others about capturing prisoners, distributing supplies, and rewarding meritorious service. Without this, how can the brave soldiers in the camp sacrifice their lives for their country?"

Zhao Yan also saw these people looking at him eagerly, but he didn't care at all: "Aji, is this really necessary?"

"Yes, Lord Zhao has seen it too. The Tiger Guards owe their victory to their high morale. A generous reward will always bring out brave men. We cannot betray our comrades."

Zhao Ji looked at Zhao Yan's frail figure and said, "It's not just the Tiger Guards. If we want to inspire the Beijiang garrison and Xu Gongming's troops, we must reward the Tiger Guards generously. With the Tiger Guards as an example, why worry about brave men not being willing to serve?"

Zhao Yan pretended to be lost in thought. Zhao Xu, standing beside him, grew anxious and stepped forward, clasping his hands. "Lord Zhao, we are ordered to fight the rebels. We should gather our allies and lead the heroes from all directions to fight the traitors together. How can we rely solely on the Tiger Guards and the county troops?"

Zhao Ji glanced at the Central Commander Ma Shizhi, but Ma Shizhi looked calm and oblivious.

It seemed that rather than the reward for defeating the traitorous ministers, he wanted to take a bite of the Hou family's inheritance.

Zhao Ji then stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Xu's collar. The man was barely seven feet tall, and when Zhao Ji grabbed his collar and lifted him up, he was barely supporting himself on tiptoe. His face immediately turned pale.

The county officials behind him were all furious, and Zhao Ji asked, "Why does the county lord want to teach Lord Zhao how to do things?"

"Aji~!"

Zhao Yan stretched out his tone in dissatisfaction, and said helplessly: "Since you have entered the government, how can you be so reckless? If you don't let go, apologize to County Lord Zhao quickly."

"Yes."

Zhao Ji let go and even gave them a push. He watched Zhao Xu, who had retreated a few steps and was steadied by the county official, and stared at these people: "The Hou brothers are so ruthless that they now dare to attack the country's most powerful soldiers. Will they dare to gather their fellow villagers and attack the emperor's carriage tomorrow? Will they imitate the likes of Li Jue and Guo Si? I don't know how such bandits and traitors could exist under the rule of County Lord Zhao. I also don't know if this is an isolated case, or if they are all so brutal and cunning!"

"Don't dare, don't dare, Zhao Zhonglang, please don't tarnish the reputation of this county!"

Zhao Xu was so anxious that he was jumping up and down. Many bad memories of Zhao Yan were awakened, and he looked at these people with a bad expression.

Several county officials were also very angry, and their anger towards Zhao Ji became even greater.

Zhao Ji went to see the powerful leaders of Beijiang, but these people seemed to have nothing to do with him.

Then he bowed to Zhao Yan and said, "Mr. Zhao, I will take my leave."

"It's getting dark, so ride slowly and don't mistreat the meritorious men."

"Yes, I will come to pay my respects to Lord Zhao tomorrow morning."

Zhao Ji bowed deeply and took a few steps back. He saw Han Shu leading a horse with a rolled-up black bear fur coat hanging on the harness.

It will be somewhat cold at night now, and there is a chance of rain.

This luxury item of the Hou brothers became a daily consumable for Zhao Ji and others.

He took off the bear fur cloak and shook it, and found that there was no dirt on it. It was just that Han Shu had tied it up casually, which made it look unsightly.

After shaking it out, it becomes neat again and feels warm in your hand.

He turned around and handed it to Zhao Yan's long-time servant: "It's cold at night, warm up Mr. Zhao."

"Yes, sir, take care."

The servant happily took it and watched Zhao Ji leave.

Turning around to look at Zhao Yan again, Zhao Yan's back was straightened by three points.

Zhao Ji mounted his horse, took the slashing sword from Han Shu, and turned his horse to face Xu Huang. "Captain Xu, select over a hundred strong men. Tomorrow morning, we will have our own weapons and horses to send to the camp. Please prepare the military register for easy management."

"Yes, I will wait for Zhonglang's good news."

Xu Huang bowed, the joy on his face could no longer be suppressed. As long as he was given a horse, he would be his good friend.

Horses are the real hard currency at present.

As for Ma Shizhi, who had a tense expression on his face, Xu Huang didn't care much about him.

Among the thousand soldiers stationed by the enemy, how many dare to go out of the city to fight in the field?

"Gee!" Zhao Ji rode his horse ahead, and more than thirty brave cavalrymen followed him. Their shadows were very long under the setting sun.

Zhao Yan withdrew his gaze and said to Zhao Xu, "Don't be offended, my lord. My grandson has been naughty since he was young, and his father is also a worthless person. I will teach him a lesson and then apologize to you in person."

"I dare not. It is my humble servant who is rude."

Zhao Xu hurriedly bowed again. The threatening meaning in Zhao Ji's words was already very clear.

The Hou family is a lesson for us. Anyone who dares to touch the things of the Huben will be committing treason.

But what did the Hou brothers do?
The Hou family's followers who had escaped had already told the surrounding powerful people and the county government about the general situation. The situation was very simple.

He just sent people to take back the supplies lent to Huben, and did not kill Huben's men. As a result, Huben destroyed the Hou family that night.

Although it was not very moral for the Hou family to break the contract, the punishment imposed by the Tiger Guards was too harsh.

Compared with other things committed by the Hou brothers, this matter is actually insignificant.

Even if the Hou brothers committed a serious crime, they should be punished by the county, or at most the case would be reported to the Supreme Court. Why would the Tiger Guards need to be dispatched?
But this is the truth, and he also knows that the court officials are resentful of Hedong.

It’s not that the powerful people in Hedong don’t have supplies, but no one dares to offer them.

Now, the imperial court has recruited a group of brave warriors, and the Hou brothers may just be the beginning.

Thinking about the Hou family's affairs, everyone could only support Zhao Yan to get on the carriage and drive back to the city.

A distance of more than ten miles is not far, and when the horsepower was about to decline, Zhao Ji returned to the camp.

Doctors transferred from Jiangyi are already in the camp to provide treatment, and even the thatched roofs of most of the barracks have been repaired.

We recruited more than 600 young and middle-aged men during the day, so it was naturally not difficult to repair the camp.

Wei Gu and Pei Xiu came to welcome Zhao Ji, and Wang Zhi could only stand on the sidelines.

Zhao Ji nimbly leaped down and bowed to everyone, "Big Brother, Seventh Brother, why isn't Brother Liang Dao here?"

Wei Gu enthusiastically grasped Zhao Ji's arm and explained, "Hou's warehouses are quite abundant. I'm not good at managing the industry, so I'll ask Liang Dao to handle it first."

He didn't want to come to the camp, but Li Le surrendered, and he heard that Zhao Ji's status had changed, so he left the miscellaneous matters in Hou's manor and directly replaced Jia Kui.

"I see. Looks like Brother Liang will have to work hard."

Zhao Ji sighed and followed the others to the barracks. Pei Xiu said, "I have sent people to seal the pass. If Bei Jiang wants to send a message to Han Xian, he can only cross the mountain on foot."

"Seventh brother, be careful. I actually forgot about this."

Entering the spacious barracks used by Wang Zhi before, I saw six low tables surrounding a pot of stewing lamb bones.

The seating arrangement had its own set of flexible and practical rules, and Zhao Ji didn't need to put much effort into it. He and Pei Xiu sat together in the two seats on the right.

Wei Gu and Wang Zhi sat at two low tables in the center, with Guanqiu Xing and Jia Tong sitting on their left.

On the contrary, Wang Zhi felt very uncomfortable sitting in the main seat, but he was Wang Yi's nephew and the commander-in-chief before the Hu Ben army was formed.

Two close guards prepared mutton soup for everyone, cut the meat into bones, and served it on plates.

Zhao Ji briefly recounted his experiences at Bei'an and Jiangyi, then said, "These people are greedy for our spoils. It's really annoying."

Wei Gu clutched the lamb chops in his left hand and slashed them with his dagger in his right. "That's why Qilang and I stayed in the camp. Fortunately, Aji is ruthless and Lord Zhao is here to protect us, so this won't be a problem. But isn't it a bit urgent to organize the army tomorrow and send it south the day after tomorrow?"

"Brother, reward those who have made contributions generously. One day is enough time. If we delay, Yang Feng and others may cause rebellion within the country, which may offend the emperor."

Zhao Ji was well aware of the concerns of people like Wei Gu. If the powerful people from Beijiang really got involved, the reward issue would be delayed.

If you keep delaying, it will be gone.

It's not about withholding payment, it's about dragging the Huben soldiers to death, dragging them down until they are defeated and leave, and finally dragging the Huben organization to disband.

Pei Xiu dipped a piece of mutton in the fine salt powder and said, "Rewarding meritorious service should be done quickly. By nightfall, the wounded Tiger Guards were already feverish and sweating. I wouldn't be happy if they were left to die. And what about Han Xian? What does Lord Zhao think?"

"If they are willing to obey, we will join forces with them to defeat the traitorous ministers; if they refuse, we will capture them first and deprive them of their military power."

Zhao Ji also tore the lamb leg meat on the plate and continued, "I just hope everything goes well tomorrow."

Although I really want Pei Xiu to arrange for Pei to cook on the way, I really can't involve my family in such matters.

Once you get involved, there is no room to stay out of it.

After defeating Li Le, Yang Feng and his men had less than two thousand troops. Unlike the county soldiers, this was an army that had fought and dared to fight in the field.

If we lose the field battle, everything will be over.

(End of this chapter)