Chen Xi, holding the transfer orders, set out for the city outskirts to arrange for troop deployment, but before he could reach the destination, he saw clouds of dust swirling outside, which soon came to a halt not far away. Then, a horse charged forward, stopping in front of him. Zang Ba dismounted and bowed to Chen Xi, "I’ve seen the Prefectural Governor!"
"Enough with the formalities, Xuangao. I want to know if you still have spies in Qingzhou," Chen Xi straightforwardly asked without any hesitation.
"Yes!" Zang Ba hesitated slightly before responding.
"Good, select your men and infiltrate the Yellow Turbans. Wait for my commands. I refuse to believe that over a million Yellow Turbans can all recognize each other," Chen Xi said with a sinister smile. "After this is done, the troops you recruit will be reorganized under your command, forming an independent army. The condition is that you do it well. Are you confident?"
Zang Ba hesitated this time. Having been with Hua Xiong for so long, he truly envied him. When they first met in Mount Tai, he thought Hua Xiong was merely an infantry commander. Only after descending from the mountain and becoming Hua Xiong’s lieutenant did he learn that Hua Xiong also had three thousand Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Six months ago, when Hua Xiong left for military duties, Zang Ba was essentially put in charge of the cavalry. Having gotten used to leading cavalry, the thought of commanding infantry felt truly uncomfortable to him.
"Is there a problem?" Chen Xi asked, puzzled. Normally, the opportunity to lead an independent army was considered a boon for any commander. Why then did it seem unworkable for Zang Ba?
"Well, I believe I could lead cavalry," Zang Ba cautiously said. It wasn’t that he wanted to take over Hua Xiong’s troops, but rather that he hoped to have some cavalry in his own forces. And it was clear that there were no horses left in Mount Tai, where every cavalry unit was already accounted for.
"That is not impossible. Mixed infantry and cavalry units are better for responding to emergencies and are less likely to be countered due to being a single combat arm. I’ll agree to this. Once Zijian returns to Mount Tai, there will be horses. But by then, you’ll have to train the cavalry. Infantrymen on horseback and true cavalry are two entirely different concepts," Chen Xi agreed to Zang Ba’s proposition after some thought, considering that the current expansion of the army had not yet begun and he still had some resources at his disposal.
"Thank you, Prefectural Governor!" Zang Ba bowed and thanked him.
"No need for that. When discussing military organization with Lord Xuande in the past, we took into account the vulnerability of single combat arms and acknowledged the strengths and weaknesses of cavalry, infantry, and archers. Therefore, I initially recommended mixed forces, so each corps would have some cavalry—it’s just a matter of more or less," Chen Xi shook his head, indicating this was not his personal initiative, it was simply the military system, "If Xuangao has nothing else, go quickly to Qingzhou and contact your spies. I will call upon you when necessary."
"Understood!" Zang Ba saluted loudly and replied, "I will make haste to Qingzhou."
After arranging things with Zang Ba, Chen Xi set his carriage towards Yu Jin’s military camp. Seeing the vast expanse of the camp, Chen Xi couldn’t help but think, how many trees had to be cut down for this?
Of course, that was just a joke. In this era, trees outnumbered people, and wild animals were more plentiful than humans, not to mention that the crocodiles south of the Yangtze River could not be eradicated completely!
"Halt, who goes there!" As Chen Xi approached, a soldier came over to stop him. However, seeing Chen Xi arriving by carriage, dressed in silk robes and wearing a jade pendant, the soldier refrained from outright ejecting him, merely instructing Chen Xi not to come closer.
"Wen Ze is drilling soldiers, right? In that case, take this and ask him to come out," Chen Xi gestured, and someone handed over the command talisman. With an expressionless face, Chen Xi passed it to the soldier guarding the gate.
Other characters these soldiers might not recognize, but the word "Command" on the Command Arrow was still familiar to them. Taking the Command Arrow with both hands, they bowed to Chen Xi and said, "Sir, please wait a moment, the general will be out shortly!" Having said that, they ran into the camp holding the Command Talisman.
Chen Xi stood at the entrance of the camp. Failure to follow protocols elsewhere might at most annoy others, but in the military, breaking rules only leads to a dead end. Even with his high status, Chen Xi did not want to leave an impression of a prodigal son to future generations.
"Greetings, Prefectural Governor!" Yu Jin, with a solemn face, came out of the camp and saluted Chen Xi, "I can’t perform the full courtesy in armor, I hope Governor of Chen Commandery would forgive me."
"I’m here to transfer troops." Facing Yu Jin’s lifeless, expressionless visage, Chen Xi also dealt with the matter in a purely official manner. Unfortunately, the other party was the type who rarely interacted with civil officials, attending only to his own affairs every day.
"The Mount Tai Camp currently has a total of fifty-six thousand recruits, among which twelve thousand are scheduled to be incorporated into the regular army. The remaining forty-four thousand are Tuntian Soldiers rotated from other places, currently undergoing drill exercises," Yu Jin answered succinctly without a hint of hesitation.
"From the Tuntian Soldiers, select six thousand robust soldiers to be incorporated into the regular army, kick out the three thousand weakest soldiers from the regular army to join the Tuntian troops. Allocate five thousand infantry under the control of Taishi Ziyi, and the rest will continue to be under your command to guard Fenggao. During my time in Qingzhou suppressing bandits, if enemies dare to invade!" Chen Xi raised his head and asked Yu Jin.
"Swallow them!" Yu Jin declared assertively.
"I think you know what kind of people will come. The Yellow Turbans are not too much of a problem. Once the new Governor of Yanzhou appoints the Governor of Mount Tai Commandery." Chen Xi sneered twice and mimicked a "beheading" gesture, "Lord Xuande will guard against the remnants in Qingzhou after my departure, and your duty is the Northwest!"
"Understood!" Yu Jin saluted with a fist. After so much time spent drilling soldiers, it was finally time to go into battle. The Mount Tai forces were not led by Guan, Zhang, and Zhao, nor by Hua Xiong, but by Yu Jin, who held the reins of training in the Mount Tai Barracks!
"Merely seek stability, holding the borders of Mount Tai and Shanyang is enough," Chen Xi nodded and said. It was troublesome for Chen Xi to maintain a stern demeanor when speaking with Yu Jin, as Chen Xi tended to look gloomy when alone but still wore a slight smile when with others, entirely different from Yu Jin’s mortuary face. Do those skilled in drilling soldiers all share such rigid and dogmatic life habits?
Having settled matters with Yu Jin, Chen Xi took his seal ribbon as Governor of Mount Tai Commandery to find Lub Su. There were some matters he needed to explain. Liu Bei personally defending the borders of Mount Tai, Jinan Commandery, and Qi State was not a concern, especially since Chen Xi had already made arrangements and also had Xuu Chu as a guard. Liu Bei himself had been tested in war, so defense should not pose a great challenge.
What Chen Xi worried about was Cao Cao. After all, following this incident, Cao Cao would become the Governor of Yanzhou with strong support from Bao Xin and Chen Gong. As a part of Yanzhou, there were plenty of ways for Provincial Inspector Cao Cao to deal with Mount Tai, but in the end, it would still come down to a contest of raw strength.
Putting everything else aside, the current Cao Cao was a tragedy. Last year in June, he missed the summer planting, and only with Xun Yu’s help did he manage to scrape by for three months, sowing the seeds for the next year’s crops. Then this April, the Yellow Turbans disrupted Qingzhou, leaving Cao Cao with only "fighting" as an option. Last year’s crops were again hopeless, and so he had only two options left: borrowing or plundering grain.
Jizhou and Youzhou were at war; Yuan Shao had no interest in Cao Cao’s troubles. To be precise, at this time, Yuan Shao’s confidence was even less than that of the Jizhou families; he was not certain he could defeat Gongsun Zan. Incidentally, if Gongsun Zan were to offer land for peace, Yuan Shao thought he could accept it.
[bookid=3280030,bookname="Immortal Three Kingdoms"]