Tiger Guards

Chapter 54 Two Thighs
Zhao Gongshi led the transport team slowly into the camp, but Pei Xiu and Wei Gu at the camp gate had no intention of going in.

After the dozen or so Tiger Guards entered the camp, Zhao Ji asked, "Seventh Brother, has trouble arisen in Jiangyi again?"

"It's not Jiangyi, it's Jialiangdao."

Wei Gu answered first and handed the account slips to Zhao Ji: "Aji, what do you think?"

Zhao Ji flipped it open and glanced at it quickly, wondering, "Brother, what's wrong?"

"That's totally inappropriate!"

Wei Gu gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know if this was an unintentional mistake by Jia Liangdao, or if he wants to kill my entire family!"

Seeing Zhao Ji was confused, Pei Xiu asked, "Aji, Jia Liangdao wants to offer 500 gold and 2,000 pieces of silk?"

"Yes, the court is in trouble, and we have captured a lot of spoils. We should do our duty as subjects."

Zhao Ji also reacted and looked at Wei Gu: "Brother, what you are worried about is that the Baibo generals previously coerced the families to not dare to serve the emperor?"

It's not that everyone wants to make fun of the emperor or the court, it's just that the Baibo bandits are so hateful.

Wei Gu also felt that Zhao Ji's analysis made sense, but he was still angry: "This Jia Liangdao harbors evil intentions, how hateful!"

Seeing that he didn't seem to be discussing the issue, Pei Xiu said, "Aji, the tribute shouldn't be too rich. It's not appropriate to bring so much gold and silk now that we're about to go to war. It would be better to first kill the Baibo generals, seize their wealth, and then present it to the court."

The generals of Baibo were also very poor. Their main forces were almost completely destroyed. They didn't get anything to loot, and their original troops also fled and dispersed.

Zhao Ji understood Pei Xiu's words. He wanted to use the "captured goods" of the Baibo bandits to launder the gold and silk seized from the Hou family.

The source of the gold and silk was washed away, from the accumulation of the powerful people in Hedong to the "stolen goods" plundered by the Baibo generals from the people.

In this way, wealthy families such as the Wei and Fan families would be cleansed and could naturally maintain the image of "barely having enough to eat and live."

Wei Gu also said: "We will offer twenty gold and one hundred pieces of cloth. If there is any spoils, we can offer more."

Zhao Ji nodded slowly: "I'll do as Seventh Brother and Big Brother say."

Wei Gu let out a long sigh and patted Zhao Ji on the shoulder: "Since Aji agrees, I will send someone to find Jia Liangdao and explain the reason to him."

Zhao Ji naturally agreed, and Wei Gu immediately drove his horse into the camp.

Looking at his back, Pei Xiu asked, "What do you think, Aji?"

"Brother Wei is too impatient. He loses his composure because of his impatience."

Zhao Ji jumped off his horse, and Pei Xiu followed suit. The two men led their horses and walked. Zhao Ji was helpless: "If the emperor had just moved here, he would still believe such words. Now, five months have passed. How could he not know the details of the Wei family?"

Seeing Pei Xiu remained silent, Zhao Ji asked, "What do you think, Seventh Brother?"

"I'm thinking about the stance of the court officials after we defeat the Baibo generals."

Pei Xiu raised his eyebrows and looked at the sky: "Put yourself in their shoes. If you and I were the heads of the various families or the elders, how could we dare to rescue the emperor so easily?"

The "royal army" was basically wiped out, all the officials were severely injured, and the palace servants were scattered.

It is no exaggeration to say that the emperor and all the officials in the court are like dogs that have lost their homes. They are surrounded by generals such as Baibo. Who would dare to fund and invest in the court at this time?
At that time, if you invested money and grain into the imperial court, the imperial court without the royal army would not be able to keep the money and grain, and it would instead make the Baibo generals stronger.

The generals of Baibo grew stronger, and they knew that the big families in Hedong valued the emperor and had considerable savings. This was a disaster.

The reason for carrying out the emperor's mission to punish rebellion is very simple. The Baibo generals can completely legally plunder.

Faced with the Baibo bandits who had obtained the imperial edict of attack, even if the big families in Hedong resisted, their subordinates and private soldiers would not dare to fight, and the poor folks would also wait and see.

So objectively, we can only stand by and watch.

After all, no matter how hard they fought, there were the Huns in the north and Li Jue and Guo Si in the west... The prospects were bleak, so the big families in Hedong gave up their investment and just wanted to send the emperor and the court out of the country.

The root of all these things is the defeat of the "royal army". If the emperor's migration team arrived in Hedong intact, the big families in Hedong would naturally invest actively.

Even if part of the royal army is damaged, it is still acceptable as long as the officials and palace servants remain intact.

There are more than a thousand officials, and at the very least they come from humble backgrounds, but they all have connections.

The officials of the imperial court were able to exert their influence and find ways to obtain material and human support from the various states in Kanto.

But basically only one in ten survived, and those who arrived alive were high-ranking officials, while the backbone forces were almost all killed in the chaos.

With such a tragic example before them, how could the wealthy families of Hedong dare to rashly enter the officialdom?
There is also a team of palace servants, whether they are newly castrated eunuchs or palace maids... those who can be selected must at least be from a good family.

These people also had extensive connections and influence, but less than ten palace maids made it to Hedong alive. Under such circumstances, how could the good women of Hedong dare to send their children there?
Because the defeat was so devastating, the entire Hedong chose to wait and see.

The establishment of the Huben was just a bargaining chip and necessary price to push the emperor and the court to continue migrating, and it could also be considered an investment.

Surprisingly, this group of Hu Ben defeated the invading Xiongnu tribe with a huge disparity in casualties, and also killed the powerful Hou family.

Li Le was also shot to death. Zhao Yan was a man who had fought in wars, so he rolled up his sleeves and was ready to fight to the death with Bai Bo's generals.

The situation has changed drastically. The court now has the royal army again. The recruited Tiger Guards have made great contributions and can quickly enrich the various institutions of the court.

Except for the palace team which was difficult to fill at the moment, two of the three missing pillars of the court have been filled.

Wei Gu may not have been aware of these changes clearly, but he instinctively sensed the danger.

If the tribute of gold and silk arranged by Jia Kui had really been sent to the court, the ministers in the court would have wanted to protect the Wei family but would have been too embarrassed to plead for them with the emperor.

Then what awaits the Wei family is nothing more than the fate of the Hou family.

Unlike Pei Xiu who was thinking about the overall situation, Zhao Ji was simply thinking about the emperor.

This emperor's experience was not much better than Liu Bingyi's. It can be said that he had suffered a lot of hardships from the people and experienced turmoil and disasters. He was an emperor who truly understood the people's sentiments and the world.

However, Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling were also heirs of the imperial clan and knew about the living conditions outside the imperial city.

Zhao Ji just thought about it briefly. It was too difficult to start a business alone. Even Yuan Shao had to rely on scholars from all sides, and Cao Cao was no exception.

Even Sun Ce, who began crossing the river to conquer Jiangdong this year, relied on military force, but he also needed the help of Xu Huai scholars in administration.

A country is not the country of one person, and a career is not the career of one person.

If you want to get things done, you need a lot of manpower. The imperial court is an excellent "spirit gathering array" where you can select people from.

There were more people gathered at the imperial court, and fewer at Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce.

Rely on the court and then select suitable people to enrich your small team.

As the situation changes in the future, we can assess the circumstances and take control of our own destiny.

Becoming a prince, a general, a warlord, a manor owner, or even jokingly becoming a famous Hun king... all they want is to control their own destiny as much as possible, not be coerced or driven by others, and live a comfortable, prosperous and safe life.

Soon, Pei Xiu and Zhao Ji, each thinking about their own things, arrived at the training ground.

All kinds of Hu Ben have gathered together, and those who are recovering from injuries have also come.

As long as you are injured, you can get at least the second-to-last reward.

Guan Shang was looking sideways at the carts of cloth when Zhao Ji, who was leading his horse by, stopped and asked, "A Shang, how is your recovery going?"

"There's no pus in the wound. The doctor said it will heal after a month of rest."

Guan Shang looked at Zhao Ji with a smile and said, "Aji, Lord Zhao sent someone to deliver the gilded armor this morning. You should put it on quickly. I think you will look very majestic. It's a pity that I can't go with you this time because I have to recuperate."

"There will be a chance. There are more than twenty Xiongnu tribes in the north, big and small. We can fight them until the snow falls."

Zhao Ji glanced around and said, "Why isn't Hu Bingcao here?"

"I don't know, ask Brother Seven."

Guan Shang glanced at Pei Xiu, who smiled and said, "I was just about to discuss this with Aji."

Guan Shang understood and said to Zhao Ji, "Aji, you go ahead and do your work. When I recover, I'll treat Aji and Seventh Brother to a drink."

"Drinking is a small matter, but healing your injuries is a big matter."

Zhao Ji knew that he wanted to thank him. After all, he gave two heads to Guan Shang, and Guan Shang could get a horse, six pieces of cloth, and a riding slave with a horse.

Zhao Ji glanced into the distance, where Tang Xian and several county officials had already begun calling out names and distributing rewards.

He also saw the back of Yang Ji who was leaning on a crutch. This guy had such bad luck that he had to return to the camp to recuperate temporarily.

Pei Xiu looked at the bustling training ground, thought of Wei Gu's bad idea, and felt that he had offended Aji even more.

The situation has changed. The Hedong Wei family is such a big name that destroying the Wei Gu branch will not have any impact.

(End of this chapter)