Chapter 25: The Bandits of Taihang Mountain

  Zhao Xing, who was standing in his own courtyard and dreaming of unifying the world, was pulled by Xu Wanting and came back to his senses.

  "Master Zhao, I found a suspicious person lurking around our village today," Pei Yuanshao said to Zhao Xing for the second time, but earlier when he mentioned it, Zhao Xing didn't react at all.

  "To be specific," Zhao Xing said calmly, furrowing his brow.

  "I vaguely remember that this person should be one of the small leaders of the Taihang Mountain bandits who robbed me and Zhou Cang at the beginning, usually responsible for exploring and tailing passing merchant travelers," said Pei Yuanshao somewhat nervously.

  "Where is he now?" Zhao Xing's heart tightened as soon as Pei Yuanshao said this. The current Wotou Village was in a large-scale construction phase, with weak defensive forces and unstable morale. If the mountain bandits broke in and looted, it would be like being punched hard in the chest, inevitably leading to internal injuries.

  I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, but I'm afraid of thieves remembering! It seems that Zhao Xing's Sleeping Tiger Manor has attracted the attention of thieves due to the reputation of Xu Family Wine Workshop!

  "Go and gather Gu Da Ge, Wen He Xiansheng and Zhou Cang. We will meet in the council hall!" Zhao Xing ordered decisively.

  "Yuan Shao has received the order!" After finishing speaking, Pei Yuanshao ran towards the distance like a gust of wind.

  "Yuanshao will give the details to Mr. Wen and Brother Guan again!" Zhao Xing said with a somewhat heavy expression in the conference hall, which was used for the first time.

  Bai Yuanshao then told everyone again about the possibility that the mountain bandits might come to probe their defenses.

  "There are thirty-six mountain strongholds and bandit lairs of Taihang, from north to south, each occupying strategic locations to wreak havoc on nearby villages. They have demarcated their spheres of influence among themselves and cannot encroach on each other's territory. I wonder if the bandits who robbed you two last time were the 'Whirlwind' gang from Changzi County?" Jia Yu asked thoughtfully, his right index finger tapping lightly on the table.

  "It was just a gang of strong men!" Pei Yuanshao replied affirmatively.

  Originally, the mountain bandits near Changzi County occupied a Qingfeng Ridge in the depths of the Taihang Mountains south of Hukou. The leader of the bandits was named Guo Changzi (in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he and Zhou Cang, Pei Yuanshao and others wanted to steal Guan Yu's Red Rabbit Horse, but were beaten by Guan Yu and forced to become his younger brother. Later, they also wanted to steal General Zhao Yun's horse, but were killed by Zhao Yun with a single spear). He had hundreds of followers, over 100 fine horses stolen from the Xianbei people outside Yanguan Pass, and was known for their swift and decisive actions, coming and going like the wind.

  Last time, Zhou Cang and Pei Yuan Shao were hijacked to Qingfeng Ridge, Guo Changzi personally persuaded them to join the gang and promised that as long as Zhou Cang and Pei Yuan Shao were willing to go up the mountain and join the gang, they could be the second and third masters of the mountain stronghold.

  "It's said that the villagers mentioned that 'a gust of wind' Guo Changzi was originally a small leader in the garrison troops under Yanmen Pass, with over a hundred men under his command. Unable to bear the extortion and flogging by their superiors, he angrily led his brothers to become bandits outside the pass, specifically plundering the scattered tribes of the Tuoba Xianbei people. At first, they had a good time for two years, but later provoked the Xianbei people's anger, and were pursued and killed all over the grasslands. Unable to stay outside the pass any longer, they snuck into Yanmen Pass, escaping along the way, gathering hundreds of refugees on the road, entering Taihang Mountain, and climbing Qingfeng Ridge, transforming from bandits to mountain bandits." Guan Yu, being a local from Shangdang, was relatively familiar with Guo Changzi's situation, so he gave everyone a detailed introduction.

  "Does this group of mountain bandits usually leave anyone alive when they rob?" Zhao Xing heard that Guo Changzi was a military man, and unexpectedly he and his own father Zhao Si had served in the same place years ago. His subordinates were also former soldiers, and he even had horses seized from the Xianbei people, so he had the idea of recruiting him for himself.

  "This gang of mountain bandits usually only rob goods and food, and do not take people's lives. They are considered to be one of the more restrained gangs in the Taihang Mountains." Guan Yu continued.

  "Oh, it seems that these mountain bandits still have some discipline among the masses. I wonder if they can be used by me?" Zhao Xing said with a smile, not caring whether everyone understood what "mass discipline" meant, his facial expression was exactly the same as when he had tricked Guan Yu into drinking wine those days ago.

  "If you want to subdue these scoundrels, you can't kill them, hurt their lives and end with a deadly feud." Jia Yu nodded and said.

  "Does General Guan have a plan?" Zhao Xing asked.

  "What's difficult about this? Just capture that Guo Changzi, state our conditions. If he agrees, then it's fine. If not, just kill him with one sword. Under such coercion and temptation, we should be able to get rid of these bandits." Guan Yu replied confidently.

  "Well, then I'll trouble Guan to get his household troops in order and prepare to battle the mountain bandits and capture their leader. Please ask Mr. Wen He to assist." Zhao Xing said with a nod.

  "I have a plan that can capture all the mountain bandits, not letting one person or horse escape. I wonder if Guo Chang is interested?" Jia Xi asked with a smile.

  "Oh, that's even better, please make it clear, sir!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but get excited, walking a few mountain bandits was no big deal, running off with a horse would be a loss!

  "This plan depends on you, Guo Chang!" said Jia Yu.

  "What the heck, are you asking me to be the bait?! Zhao Xing's heart felt a bit hairy, although he had never slacked off in his martial arts training over the past year. However, he was still far behind Guan Yu, and hadn't reached the level where he could take down top generals like taking items from his pocket. Although he had his doubts, Zhao Xing said, "I don't know how to rely on myself, but Guo Chang is dull and has no idea what's going on."

  "May I ask how Guo Chang plans to deal with the Qiang tribe that has surrendered to me this time?" Jia Xuan asked.

  "Haha, what's the big deal! People always say 'those who are not of our kind must have a different heart', doesn't that mean we should eliminate all foreigners to avoid future troubles?" Zhao Xing said with a dragging tone and paused for a moment.

  Everyone heard Zhao Xing say with a smile, "Kill them all", and he didn't even blink his eyes. A strange feeling rose in their hearts, and they felt a chill run down their spines, wondering if they were following a non-human being. Jia Xi didn't think Zhao Xing's answer was strange at all - back then, the "Poisonous Master" had incited Li Jue to slaughter people in Luoyang with just a few words, causing blood to flow like a river.

  "But I, Zhao Xing, think that stopping killing with killing is the worst policy!" Zhao Xing started to expound his own national policy at this time.

  "I think that when dealing with different ethnic groups, we should treat them differently. For the numerous Xianbei, Qianghu and later Wuhuan, Nanman and Shanyue, we must maintain overwhelming military power while adopting a strategy of national fusion to divide and sinicize them. Simply put, we need to eliminate any young and strong ethnic minority who dares to stand in front of our army, but spare the old, weak, women and children; for small tribes willing to accept our management and leadership, we should use both kindness and intimidation to bring them under control, so that over time large tribes become smaller ones, and a single nation becomes multiple nations!"

  "What does Guo Chang know about sinicizing ethnic minorities?" Jia Yu nodded frequently upon hearing this, showing his approval of Zhao Xing's words.

  "It's also simple, the ethnic minorities move into the inner areas, the Han people move to the outer areas, forming a situation where you have me and I have you in the place of residence. Moreover, the Han people must maintain their population advantage, encourage intermarriage between Han and ethnic minorities, encourage ethnic minorities to learn and use Chinese characters, and allow outstanding ethnic minority talents to become officials. However, this strategy requires decades to take effect, and hundreds of years to achieve success."

  "This strategy is in line with the will of heaven and conforms to moral principles, it's a good way to win people's hearts." Guan Yu agreed after hearing this.

  Zhao Xing thought to himself, "How could I have such insight and vision? It's all because of my knowledge from my past life about the great national fusion policy set by Taizu. If we can establish a few construction corps in the future, it'll be awesome!"