Chapter 64: Refusing Parasitism

As the first light of dawn broke, the Huben knights fed their horses and rode out from the encampment.

They moved in squads of over forty riders, their rations prepared in advance, with each man carrying provisions for five days.

At the camp gate, Gao Chong held a torch high, his outstretched arms illuminating the surroundings, while Zhao Yan, draped in a heavy bear-fur cloak, narrowed his eyes to see more clearly.

Hanging from the flagpole of the camp gate was the severed head of Ma Shizhi.

Zhao Ji brought up the rear, leaping down from his horse at the camp gate with the metallic clatter of his armor plates, and bowed deeply with cupped hands toward Zhao Yan: "Lord Zhao, this subordinate is setting out."

"Very well. The day after tomorrow, Xu Gongming will lead five hundred infantry and cavalry southward to reinforce you."

"This subordinate understands."

Zhao Ji acknowledged the order, raised his eyes to glance at the suspended head, and bowed to both Zhao Yan and Xu Huang, who returned the gesture.

Turning back to his mount, Zhao Ji placed his left foot into the single stirrup, pushed off the ground with his right foot, and vaulted gracefully and deftly into the saddle.

Drawing his riding crop from the scabbard, he flicked it lightly and shouted, "Move out!"

His fifteen personal squires swarmed forward, followed closely by the cavalry troop led by Tang Xian.

Once Zhao Ji had driven his horse out of the camp gate, he gently reined it into a brisk trot to pick up speed, followed closely in single file by Han Shu and the squires.

They quickly passed squad after squad, cantering for a couple of li until they reached the vanguard of the column. Here, his standard-bearer Gao Yanglong stood upon a wagon holding the banner, moving along with the baggage train.

A rider galloped toward them from the front, reined in his horse, and shouted: "Tunzhang, Hu Qian and over a hundred horsemen from Beijiang are waiting by the roadside, wishing to join forces to suppress the rebels!"

Hearing this, Zhao Ji steered his horse away from the marching column and indeed spotted a few scattered torches flickering by the roadside in the distance. "Understood. The marching order remains unchanged. Return to your post."

"Understood!"

The rider had already turned his mount around. As a signaling scout during the march, he wore a red banner strapped to his back.

Before long, Zhao Ji arrived at the spot where Hu Qian and the others were waiting. These men were holding their horses by the reins by the roadside.

Several campfires were dying down, and some men were sitting on the ground.

Hu Qian stepped forward and bowed with cupped hands: "Major Zhao, we are all willing to follow the Huben to escort the Son of Heaven and jointly punish the rebellious ministers!"

"This matter arose too suddenly. Forgive me, but I cannot grant your request."

Zhao Ji reined in his horse to observe them, pointing his right arm toward the main camp in the rear: "The Yulin knights recruited from Xihe Commandery are about to enter the camp, and they will be integrated with Xu Gongming's forces. If any of you are interested, you may go and offer your services to be incorporated into the Yulin."

"The Yulin knights?"

Hu Qian asked in a solemn tone. There was no fundamental difference between originating from the Yulin and originating from the Huben.

Zhao Ji observed Hu Qian: "How the reorganization is to be carried out is a major matter pondered by Lord Zhao; it is not something I am privy to. I cannot accommodate you all here, so I must ask you to seek your fortunes elsewhere."

With that, Zhao Ji pulled on the reins, lightly kicked his horse's flank, and rode away.

One of the men beside Hu Qian stared wide-eyed and muttered, "This is entirely too discourteous!"

Another man pulled his arm and said, "Being incorporated into the Yulin also allows us to serve the imperial court. Why bother being under his command?"

"Indeed, the Yulin are no worse than the Huben."

Amidst the murmuring around him, Hu Qian felt a sudden sense of disappointment. Yet the opinions of his fellow clansmen and villagers were also crucial, so he immediately turned to his companions and said, "In that case, let us enter the camp and submit to Lord Zhao's arrangements."

"Quite right, mount up and return to the camp!"

Everyone chimed in agreement. Hu Qian also swung back onto his horse, gathered the young scions of the Beijiang gentry, and headed toward the camp.

Meanwhile, Han Shu sidled up to Zhao Ji and asked, "Tunzhang, can they really be reorganized into the Yulin?"

"They had a chance yesterday, but today it is already too late."

Zhao Ji could not help smiling as he replied: "How can there be so many good things in this world? If they are willing, they will be incorporated into the Hedong Cavalry Battalion."

Liu Xuan, the Administrator of Xihe Commandery, had done his utmost in the recruitment and had managed to muster over two hundred Yulin knights.

These Yulin knights had been marching and halting intermittently, lingering on the northern bank of the Fen River.

It was only yesterday, upon learning of Li Le's death, that they had sent men to contact Zhao Yan.

Yet they were, after all, Yulin Lang levied according to imperial decree. Now that they were willing to come, Zhao Yan would not turn them away.

The original plan was for these Yulin knights to be mixed with Xu晃's hundred-odd cavalry, and then brave and robust men would be selected from the commandery militia to form a combined infantry and cavalry force of some seven hundred men to head south.

Now, with the addition of these young scions from the Beijiang gentry, Xu Huang's task of reorganization had become even more difficult.

Yet there was truly no need to pander to these people. Enlisting in the Huben and Yulin inherently carried massive risks, and now was the time to reap the rewards.

For the sake of their shared origins from the same commandery, the Huben could hold their noses and accept it.

However, the lingering Xihe Yulin would not easily back down. Xihe was one of the six commanderies of the Yulin, and the Yulin who came to enlist naturally hailed from Yulin families.

Calculated strictly, Li Jue also belonged to this milieu, though he was affiliated with Beidi Commandery.

Therefore, in reorganizing this faction, there was no need for Zhao Yan or Xu Huang to play the villains; the Xihe Yulin, who had shed blood for the Han for generations, would naturally block the scholars of Beijiang.

Hearing Zhao Ji's reply, Han Shu felt a great deal of relief wash over him.

Everyone was taking such immense risks and fighting for their lives—wasn't it all to get ahead in the world?

If these men from Beijiang were truly absorbed into the Huben, what about the young gentry from Wenxi, Anyi, and other counties?

Once this precedent was set, it could never be stopped.

As more and more of these people arrived, they would naturally usurp the opportunities belonging to the original Huben.

When it came down to it, what did being fellow townsmen matter?

Those who came to rob you and bully you—those were your fellow townsmen!

Not only Han Shu, but the anxieties harbored by the surrounding Huben knights also dissipated at this thought.

Zhao Ji could likewise perceive the emotional shifts in these men. Among the veteran Huben, few were orphans; almost all had families and vulnerabilities.

If men like Hu Qian were recruited, leaving aside the suppression in terms of talent and connections, the families of Hu Qian and his peers could suppress and dissolve the Huben locally.

When that time came, no matter how angry or furious one felt, they would simply have to endure it.

Since these people could not parasitize or usurp the Huben, they would likely turn around, swallow their grievances, and allow themselves to be incorporated into Xu Huang's Hedong Cavalry Battalion.

Xu Huang's humble origins and background in the White Wave rebels were flaws; he would not be able to suppress these people.

Before long, the Hedong cavalrymen would likely drive out Xu Huang and evolve into an independent armed force with its own political stance.

Toward such people, Zhao Ji felt a sense of helplessness.

It was not that he could not defeat them; rather, he simply lacked the time.

After marching south to suppress and pacify the various White Wave generals, he would have to consider driving out the Xiongnu to the north.

During this process, various forces would need to be united, and in the course of pacifying the White Wave, the Hedong Cavalry Battalion would inevitably take shape.

Once the imperial court was rescued and restored to freedom, its first consideration would be survival.

Reaching a compromise with the Hedong gentry was entirely natural.

As for the Huben, they had previously been discarded pawns cast aside by the Hedong gentry; being treated as discarded pawns once more was equally normal.

This was undoubtedly good news. Whom did the Huben loathe the most?

It was certainly not the White Wave generals, nor Li Jue and Guo Si, but rather the first-rate young gentry of the counties.

Strictly speaking, the Huben were merely their spare tires and hired thugs.

In the ecosystem of the counties, men like Hu Qian were the tigers, while the Huben were nothing more than wolves, dogs, and foxes.

On this level, leaving aside the Huben from around Pingyang, the majority of the Huben shared the same trait with him: a rebellion against traditional perceptions.

As the sun climbed higher, Zhao Ji pondered and analyzed the deeper stance of the Huben.

After marching for some twenty li, the Huben column halted by a shallow stream to rest their horses, feed them the grain they carried, and let the mounts graze on the riverside grass.

The Huben guards stationed at the mountain-pass choke point of the imperial highway also came to welcome them, recounting their experiences from yesterday's patrols.

The common folk living near the highway choke points were mainly mountain dwellers, who had long since acquired the habit of hiding from soldiers ever since the outbreak of the White Wave rebellion.

When Huben scouts patrolled the pass, if you still dared to go out to gather firewood or medicinal herbs... who would readily believe you weren't a spy?

Consequently, they had essentially seen not a single living soul the day before.

Yet this did not guarantee that information leakage had been completely prevented. Zijin Mountain to the east was not particularly high and was easy to cross on foot; fortunately, leading horses across was difficult and would attract the patrols of the Huben camp.

Meanwhile, Mount Ji to the west was massive, and the northern cliffs were sheer; let alone leading horses, even crossing on foot was extremely difficult unless one took a long detour.

Taking a long detour naturally meant that news would travel slowly.

Still, Zhao Ji did not dare to lower his guard. He gathered the men and stated his view: "After passing Beixiang, I want to deploy more scouts to avoid falling into an ambush. What do you all think?"

Among the other four officers, Wang Qi had the most abundant practical combat experience: "Is the Major planning a surprise attack on Han Xian?"

"Indeed. After passing Beixiang, the eastern bank of the Su River is not something our forces can control unless we march by night and hide by day. If we do that, the men and horses will be exhausted, which is unfavorable for combat."

Seeing Zhao Ji's concern over intelligence leaks, Wang Qi said: "The scholars and commoners of Hedong have suffered under the White Wave for far too long. In my view, after passing Beixiang, the Huben should advance in a massive, solid formation. When the villagers see our mighty grandeur, they will naturally weigh their options."

Jia Tong also agreed with Wang Qi's opinion and said: "Major Zhao, the reason we were able to slay Li Le is that his officers and men were disaffected, lax, and lazy. Li Le knew his men's hearts were not with him, and thus he dared not demand strict discipline. Compared to Li Le, even if Han Xian is formidable, just how formidable can he be?"

Chang Mao likewise expressed his stance: "We are executing the imperial decree to suppress the rebels, wielding righteousness to punish usurpation—who can possibly stand against us?"

Seeing the high morale of those around him, Zhao Ji felt that he might have underestimated the influence of the imperial court's righteousness. He nodded and said: "Very well. After resting in Beixiang shortly, we will bypass the county seat and march directly upon Han Xian in Nanxiang!"

"Understood!"