Chapter 12: Zhang Yang's Secret in Jiuyuan Valley

  Zhang Yang led Ma Chao into the central army tent, where a person was reading a book. Upon noticing someone's arrival, he looked up and said, "So, Young Master has returned! I wonder what good candidate you've found this time!"

  "Fuyi, are you kidding me? This time I actually made a friend in the Long Gun Camp, and he's willing to join us!" Zhang Yang said excitedly.

  "Meng Qi, this is Gao Shun. Gao Fu Yi, this barracks will be under his management." Zhang Yang introduced to Ma Chao.

  At the same time, he also said to Gao Shun: "Fu Yi, this is the new friend I just mentioned, Ma Chao, Ma Mengqi. Don't look at Mengqi's young age, but his martial arts skills are not ordinary! Let's get to know each other."

  No wonder, only he can train such elite soldiers, thought Ma Chao. As soon as he met him, Gao Shun gave Ma Chao a feeling like that of an iron-blooded warrior from his past life. Since he was indeed Gao Shun, it wasn't surprising at all.

  Ma Chao hastily clasped his fists: "Honored to meet you, honored to meet you."

  Gao Shun was just a fist bump and nodded, but didn't say anything, it can be seen that Gao Shun is not very talkative to unfamiliar people.

  "Zhi Shu, how many more people are left now?" Gao Shun knew that since Zhang Yang considered Ma Chao a friend, he would naturally not speak behind his back.

  "Less than ten people, once we have enough people, we can start making plans!" Zhang Yang said with full of hope.

  Gao Shun clenched his fist, "I hope we can succeed in this one battle, we've all waited for so many years already!"

  "Alright, I'll take Mengqi brothers down first, then go to select personnel. Don't worry, it's okay, Fuyi!" Zhang Yang said, patting Gao Shun's shoulder, and then led Ma Chao out of the central army account.

  Ma Chao was completely in the dark, but he didn't ask any questions either. If Zhang Yang wanted to tell him, he would naturally let himself know. If not, no matter how you asked, it would be useless.

  After walking out of the military account for a while, Zhang Yang looked up at the sky and said, "Meng Qi brothers, didn't you understand the conversation between me and Fu Yi just now? No wonder, do you want to hear our story?"

  Ma Chao nodded after hearing this, it seems Zhang Yang is also a person with a story.

  "Alright, let's find a place to talk!"

  Zhang Yang led Ma Chao to his own military tent, shooing away the soldiers outside. It seemed he was also in charge here. After letting Ma Chao sit down, Zhang Yang fell into reminiscence.

  "This is the first year of Guangyuan, Feng Xian is 24 years old, Fu Yi is 22 years old, and I am 23."

  Ma Chao didn't understand why Zhang Yang said these things, but he still listened carefully.

  "Our fathers were all good friends, so we two have been good friends since childhood. Many years ago, Xianbei Tan Shi Huai Kou Bian Yun Zhong, Feng Xian's father led the army to resist the enemy, but in the end, he was unable to withstand the Xianbei army. In the end, Feng Xian's father was brutally killed by Tan Shi Huai in a fit of rage. And Fu Yi's father and my father were both under Feng Xian's father, so they naturally did not escape either."

  Zhang Yang said this, with tears shining in his eyes. Although he only said it was cruelly killed, I think it should be that it is really indescribable, so he said so.

  "After we heard the bad news, we were all thinking about how to avenge, but at that time, we weren't much older than you, Meng Qi. How could we possibly go find Tan Shi Huai to take revenge? So we could only wait for a few years and slowly look for opportunities."

  "Is it now?" Ma Chao asked.

  "Yes, as the ancients said: 'A father's death cannot be shared under the same sky.' 'A gentleman avenges his grievances, even if it takes ten years.' From then on, Feng Xian began to search for famous masters to learn from all over the place. Fu Yi also went elsewhere to study, and as for me, I joined the Pingzhou army, until this very day!"

  Ma Chao listened intently, and Zhang Yang continued: "In the past few years, Feng Xian, who had gone to study under a master, and Fu Yi, who had traveled abroad, both returned one after another. They also joined the Pingzhou army one after another. When we met again, we sighed at the passing of time on the one hand, and discussed our plans for revenge on the other. For a while, we couldn't come up with anything."

  After a pause, he continued: "Later, it was Fuyi who came up with an idea, and we all thought it was good in the end.

  Fu Yi said, "Xianbei Tan Shi Huai has at least tens of thousands of archers under his control. Even if we were as brave and powerful as Feng Xian, it would be impossible to kill Tan Shi Huai with our own strength. Therefore, we can only rely on the power of the army to deal with Tan Shi Huai, but in a direct confrontation on the battlefield, even if we mobilize the entire Bingzhou army, we are no match for the Xianbei army. Moreover, we do not have the authority to mobilize so many troops, so it is better to have a small but elite force rather than a large one. A direct confrontation will not work, so we can only launch a surprise attack when they least expect it."

  According to our detailed intelligence, in recent years, Tan Shi Huai's body has been getting worse and worse, and he almost never shows up. He only recuperates in the Pohan Mountain Xianbei Wangting. This is a great opportunity for us. We will lead a team of elite soldiers, launch a surprise attack on Pohan Mountain, and we must be able to kill Tan Shi Huai to avenge my father's death!

  After hearing this, Feng Xian and I both thought that Fu Yi's plan was the best for now, so we decided to do as he said. Later, we secretly planned to form an elite army of 1,000 men.

  Among them, 800 people were selected by Fu Yi to be his own battalion. Fu Yi had his own family's traditional method of training soldiers, and these years of traveling had also broadened his horizons. After the formation of the army, he named this battalion "Trap Array", meaning charge forward bravely.

  The remaining 200 elite soldiers were selected by me, because I have been in the Pingzhou army for many years and am very familiar with the military. I also know many generals well, so it is most suitable for me to select people. Now I have selected a total of 192 elite soldiers from various armies, and there are eight more places left. Our plan has succeeded!

  Zhang Yang suddenly became emotionally agitated, "Young uncle, don't get excited." Gao Shun called Zhang Yang young uncle, so Ma Chao also calls him that now.

  However, Ma Chao was indeed shocked when he heard Zhang Yang's words. He didn't expect that Zhang Yang and the other two had such a story, let alone that Zhang Yang had already poached nearly 200 elite soldiers from the Bingzhou army. Nearly 200 people! That's not just two people, it can be seen how corrupt the great Han dynasty has become today.

  "Mengqi brothers I'm fine. But... but..." Zhang Yang looked at Ma Chao with a bit of hesitation.

  "Little uncle and brother, if you have something to say, just say it straight out. This hesitant attitude doesn't suit you!"

  "Brother Mengqi, you can still laugh? Alas, I've known Brother Mengqi for only two days, but in these two days, I know that Brother Mengqi is a trustworthy person. Since Brother Mengqi treats me as a friend, I naturally treat Brother Mengqi as a friend too."

  "I had said before that I couldn't guarantee anything, but I wouldn't do anything that would harm the heavens or go against reason. However, I didn't make it clear what exactly we were going to do. Now that it's been made clear, please, Brother Mengqi, think carefully about this - launching a surprise attack on the Xianbei royal court is a matter of life and death! I really shouldn't be putting our friendship in harm's way!"

  Ma Chao was deeply moved by these words. Although he had previously thought that Zhang Yang was just an ordinary person, now Ma Chao felt that Zhang Yang was indeed a friend worth befriending.

  "Don't worry, young uncle, I must go. If there are too many Xianbei people and we can't beat them, can't I just run away?" Ma Chao said with a half-joking tone.

  Run? Where to run, I'm afraid that when the time comes, you won't be able to run back, Zhang Yang thought. However, Zhang Yang knew his brother Meng Qi's way of doing things better - once something was decided, not even nine oxen could pull him back.

  "Mengqi brothers, since you insist on going, be sure to stick close to me at that time!"

  Ma Chao looked at Zhang Yang with an odd expression.

  "Meng Qi brothers don't have to look at me like that, actually I also can't protect you, but we can follow behind Feng Xian's side, this way it will be much safer." Zhang Yang said confidently.

  Right, if it's too dangerous, I can just run to Lü Bu's side. Thinking this way, Ma Chao felt more at ease. Actually, Ma Chao didn't think it through carefully, if most people went to surround and attack Lü Bu, then his side would be even more dangerous.

  "Brother Ma Chao's words are extremely right, in this way we will all be safe." Ma Chao said with a smile.

  Zhang Yang also smiled and showed an expression of "look at me, I'm smart".

  "Mengqi brothers, you rest well here first, I still have to go to other camps to continue digging people." After finishing speaking, Zhang Yang bid farewell and left.

  After Zhang Yang left, Ma Chao didn't rest either. He couldn't rest, he wanted to get familiar with the military camp, so he walked out of his tent and hadn't gone far when someone patted him on the shoulder.

  Ma Chao turned his head and saw a Han man about twenty years old looking at him with a smile that was not quite a smile.

  "Little brother, you're new here, right?"

  "Yes." Ma Chao nodded in agreement with Hanzi.

  The man smiled and said, "Little brother just arrived, it seems you still don't know our rules here!"

  "Indeed, I don't know." Ma Chao shook his head, thinking that Zhang Yang's military camp still had protection fees?

  "Alright, now you know!" The man said as he prepared to trip Ma Chao with his leg, intending to knock him down directly.

  He didn't know that with his three-legged cat level, in Ma Chao's eyes, it was just like a child playing house. He didn't trip up Ma Chao, but instead he himself was tripped up by Ma Chao.

  The man was slammed by Ma Chao and their noise had already startled some soldiers next to them, and now there were several onlookers.

  The man felt a bit unable to hold on, and with his good face, he got up again and attacked Ma Chao. At this level, Ma Chao didn't even bother to deal with him, Ma Chao just used one hand to block his two hands, waited for an opening, then flew out with a kick, and the man was kicked down by Ma Chao again.

  It was slow when it was said, but fast at that time. In fact, things happened in just a few seconds.

  Ma Chao didn't use much strength, but he almost hurt someone, and it wouldn't be good to explain to Zhang Yang.

  The man was clearly unhappy, got up again and rushed to Ma Chao. The result can be imagined, he was knocked down again. However, this time he was honest and didn't get up from the ground.

  "Are you not coming back this time?" Ma Chao asked him.

  "No need to get up again, I've already fallen. Don't bother trying to lift me up again." The man's words caused the surrounding soldiers to burst into laughter.

  Ma Chao also smiled and thought this fellow was quite interesting. Just as he was about to speak, a soldier came over and said to Ma Chao, "You're our new hundred-man commander, congratulations Hundred Commander!"

  "What's going on? Me?" Ma Chao was puzzled and confused, what is this all about.

  "Right, you're absolutely right! You've won me over, you are the new Bai Chang!" said the man who had fallen to the ground.

  "What's going on?"

  The man continued: "It's like this, brother you just arrived don't know..."

  Ma Chao only understood after Hanzi finished speaking. It turned out that the situation was like this: originally, Lü Bu, Gao Shun and Zhang Yang had secretly discussed and formed an elite army of a thousand men. Among them, 800 were under Gao Shun's command, 200 were under Zhang Yang's command, and they all listened to Lü Bu's dispatch.

  Gao Shun formed the Eight Hundred Man Stronghold, training every day. He trained his troops effectively, and over the past two years, the stronghold had fought several battles with him to the death, making them extremely elite soldiers.

  Ke Zhangyang, however, did not have Gao Zuo's strong military training methods and could not train an army like the Trap Array Camp. Therefore, he could only rely on his connections accumulated over the years of mixing in the military to poach some elite troops from various camps.

  Zhang Yang's requirements for soldiers were very strict, so he could only recruit a dozen or so elite troops each month. However, he didn't have the ability or time to train them, and was always busy poaching people from other camps, so he couldn't take care of too many.

  Gao Shun only managed his own camp, and didn't care about anything else. Later, Zhang Yang implemented a method, which was competition. How to compete, Zhang Yang said the elite camp had 200 people, with battalion commanders, company commanders, and squad leaders. If you want to be one of them, you must defeat others, that is, whoever has the bigger fist can be in charge.

  Every month, everyone has the opportunity to challenge Wu Chang, Shi Chang and Bai Chang once. However, Wu Chang, Shi Chang and Bai Chang can only accept up to five challenges per day, which is also for fairness.

  And if you win against the Wu Chang, then you are the new Wu Chang. Win against Shi Chang, and you become the new Shi Chang. Win against Bai Chang, of course, you become the new Bai Chang. But if you lose, then you have to give 10 coins as compensation to the one who accepted your challenge. If you don't give it, this money will be deducted from your salary in double amount, so thinking about cheating is not an option.

  Wu Chang, Shi Chang and Bai Chang can challenge their subordinates once a month. If they lose, the subordinate will take over as the new leader. If they win, the subordinate must give them five coins.

  If you go to challenge the same person next month and win again, if your opponent lost in three moves last month but lost in four moves this month, then your opponent will give you four times the money. If your opponent loses in two moves this month, then your opponent has to pay twice as much money as last month.

  Have to say, this method is really useful. Since having this method, with more and more sharpness, the competition is extremely fierce, every day there are challenges and being challenged.

  Actually, Zhang Yang's rule has another point, that is, every three months, each person can choose to refuse a challenge once, so it's still relatively humane. Of course, you can choose to refuse every time, but the consequences are nothing, just in front of everyone, not only the elite camp of Zhang Yang, but also the high-ranking array camp. In front of everyone, loudly shouting that I am not as good as someone else, dare not accept the challenge, and will never have the qualification to challenge others again, I am a coward, a waste, not a man!

  So far, such a situation has never occurred. The Wu Chang, Shi Chang and Bai Chang are training hard every day to keep their positions and earn more money, so as not to be defeated by others.

  The ordinary soldiers worked even harder, because even if they couldn't reach the long position, it was okay to lose a little less money. It has to be said that the person who came up with this idea is really too stingy, and the soldiers thought, "This is just exploiting us ordinary soldiers."

  Ma Chao listened and admired Zhang Yang very much. Although Zhang Yang was like that normally, he could also do it at critical moments. He could even think of such an idea, which is considered a talent. In fact, Ma Chao didn't think carefully again, how could Zhang Yang have this skill?

  "Hundred, hundred long..." muttered the soldier next to him.

  "What do you want to say? You think you can challenge me?"

  "Me? I wouldn't dare, don't joke around, Baizhang."

  "Little thief, speak nicely with Bai Chang! Bai Chang, the little thief means to get to know you better. You've just arrived and everyone is still unfamiliar. Let me introduce myself first, my name is Sun Yi, from Yanmen in Pingzhou." The man who had fallen to the ground said, but by now he was already standing up again.

  "My name is Hao Yang, everyone calls me Little Haozi, and I'm from Bianzhou Xihé." said the soldier who spoke earlier.

  "Ma Chao, Ma Mengqi, from Longxi, Liangzhou."

  From Ma Chao to Bingzhou, he has been saying that he is from Liangzhou Longxi. Longxi is the second home of his grandfather and father, and it can also be considered as his second home. Moreover, his current home is still there, and Ma Chao doesn't think he has deceived others.