Chapter 55 Zhang Shuye

  "Brother Jiu, what's going on?" Ma Tai asked somewhat anxiously. This is unheard of, the local militia and the Imperial Guard are fighting? I'm afraid we won't get a good outcome. From their tone, they don't even take us seriously.

  "What to do?" Xu Wei sneered, "When the troops come, we'll resist; when the water comes, we'll dam it." He had also guessed the other party's intention, which was to muddy the waters and get a share of the spoils. I brought my brothers all the way from Hebei to Shandong to help you suppress the bandits, and you think you can get a share of the meat without lifting a finger? Will my brothers under me agree to that?

  "Right! Bullying our people, looking down on our rural soldiers? Grandma! Ninth brother, with one order from you, I'll take the lead!" Yang Yan seemed to be born with a nature that feared the world would not be chaotic. As long as there was a battle to fight, he was happier than anything else. As for who they were fighting, that came second. The three of them rode back to their troops, and Xu Wei gave orders to prepare for battle. Those over a hundred soldiers didn't know what kind of opponent they were facing, having just defeated an army of ten thousand. What did they have to fear from these few people? Each one was spirited, waiting to capture the three and put them in their bag.

  Liu Dujuan gazed over here from afar, seeing that Xu Wei had no intention of backing down, which made him unable to retreat. If they really fought, the higher-ups would definitely investigate, and besides, the governor had already issued a military order, so if he started a fight, it would be disobeying orders. But if they didn't fight, they would lose face, as they were the imperial guards, how could they be afraid of the local militia?

  There, he was making a show of himself, shouting orders, when suddenly the sound of horse hooves echoed from behind. He knew it was the Magistrate leading his troops to hurry over. Hastily, he opened his throat and let out a loud yell: "Brave warriors! Follow me in charging forward, and finish off these birds from north of the river!"

  Just as he finished speaking, a group of soldiers and horses rushed over, and one of them shouted loudly: "Liu Yu, surrender!"

  As he rushed up, Liu Dujuan bowed his hands on horseback and said, "Lord Prefect."

  The governor immediately looked at Xu Wei's formation from a distance and turned his head to ask: "What is the origin of the other party? Just now I heard you shouting, saying that they came from Hebei?"

  "It's precisely that group of rural soldiers who call themselves the 'Great Name Prefecture's Pacification and Comforting Camp', what a big tone! They directly treat my Forbidden Army as if it were nothing! I, your subordinate, cannot swallow this tone, so...” Liu Du Jian shifted the blame for provoking the conflict to Xu Wei. Because he knew that this Magistrate was not someone who would tolerate being trifled with, and upon hearing these words, would certainly become enraged.

  As expected, the prefect listened and sternly shouted: "Nonsense!" After finishing speaking, he turned his horse's head around, whipped it fiercely several times, and charged straight ahead. Liu Yu felt a sense of satisfaction for a moment - this little thing was going to get what was coming to it. If you don't give these ignorant brats a lesson, they'll never know their place.

  As for Xu Wei, he had been waiting in ambush for a long time. After waiting left and right without seeing the enemy cavalry charge over, another person emerged with a small team of horses following behind him. The leading rider shouted from afar: "Where is Xu Jiu?"

  The voice sounds somewhat familiar, Xu Wei didn't respond, and as they walked closer, he saw a figure that seemed to be someone he knew. Running closer still, wasn't this Zhang Shu Ye, the governor of Jinan? He quickly spurred his horse forward and greeted him loudly: "Xu Wei has seen Governor Sir."

  The county magistrate saw Xu Wei again and also saw the big fire in the bandit camp behind him, and hastily asked for the reason. Xu Wei told the truth, but Zhang Magistrate found it hard to believe. He hurriedly ordered him to lead the way ahead, with the soldiers of the Jingwei Camp going together to check, and instead left the main force behind. Entering Wang Shan's bandit camp, he saw that everything was in disarray, with corpses scattered all over the ground, and when he arrived at the lake, he also saw thousands of surrendered bandits kneeling on the ground, overjoyed!

  Xu Jiu, this little guy, with less than a thousand soldiers and poor equipment, rushed from Hedong to Shandong to assist in the battle. On the first day of entering the border, he defeated Wang Shan's bandit army, capturing thousands of people alive! He really has some skills! I didn't misjudge him! Before I could reward him, I urgently asked about the bandit leader Wang Shan, but saw Xu Wei pointing to a corpse with its head and body separated on the ground. What? You even killed the bandit leader?!

  Zhang Shuye had been an official for dozens of years, and had experienced all sorts of situations. However, at this moment, he couldn't think of any words to comfort or praise them. He then thought about the soldiers' exhaustion, so he ordered the two armies to work together to set up camp on the spot, rest for a night, and continue advancing towards Zizhou the next day. After the army set up their tents, Zhang Shuye sent soldiers to guard the surrendered bandits, and also dispatched military doctors to treat the wounded from the Jingwei battalion. Although he was eager to know about the battle, he still considered Xu Wei's hard work and let him rest well.

  The next morning, Xu Wei woke up at dawn. The soldiers brought hot water for him to wash his face. After finishing washing, a soldier from the Jinan army came and said that Zhang Zhifu invited Xu to have breakfast together. He didn't decline, ordered the squad leaders to lead the soldiers in drills, then followed the soldier out of the camp towards Zhang's large camp.

  All the way, Xu Wei carefully observed Zhang Shuye's deployment method. As they say, "those who are familiar with the inside look at the gate, and those who are familiar with the outside look at the excitement." Although Xu Wei is not yet an expert, compared to his brother Xu Sheng's narrative method, it's not difficult to see that Zhang Shuye is indeed a knowledgeable military commander. In front of the main tent of the central army, a large flag was waving, with the words "Zhang, the servant of the imperial court, temporarily in charge of the affairs of Jizhou Prefecture" written on it. The camp was set up in an extremely orderly manner, and the soldiers inside were coming and going, patrolling in an organized way. Since this is the case, why can't they eliminate bandits like Wang Shan? With this question in mind, Xu Wei entered Zhang Shuye's main tent.

  In the past, I imagined that the commander-in-chief's headquarters in ancient times must have been majestic and stern, with two rows of cross-chairs arranged, displaying eighteen kinds of weapons. The most prominent one at the top must be a tiger-skin cross-chair, best made of white tiger skin. In front of it was set up a long table, on which were placed a sign tube and a command flag. The major and minor generals stood on both sides, with murderous aura emanating from the guards standing outside. Once the commander-in-chief gave an order, they would each carry out their tasks.

  In the big tent, there was no throne or weapons, only a few plaques and flags. At the very top, there was only a wooden chair, a broken table, with some documents piled up, and the four treasures of the study laid out, nothing more. Zhang Zhi-fu was not wearing military uniform either, but a simple green robe and small hat, looking quite casual, sitting in front of a small table, head buried in reading.

  He saw him looking at him with a look of admiration, and Xu Wei didn't disturb him, just standing still and waiting quietly. For this predecessor who was captured in history and died of starvation to maintain his dignity, he was quite respectful. Although, he may not necessarily agree with this approach.

  After a long time, Zhang Shu Ye put down the book and closed his eyes to rub them, sighing: "After all, I'm getting old, my eyesight is getting worse."

  "In the Tang Dynasty, Guo Ziyi was still fighting on the battlefield at the age of 80, so why did you say that I'm old?" Xu Wei said with a smile.

  As soon as he opened his eyes, Xu Weili was in front of him. Zhang Shuye lost his smile and said: "When did you come in? Why didn't you say a word?"

  "It's probably been a while since lunch, and seeing that the adults were deeply engrossed, I didn't disturb them." Xu Wei replied.

  "Come, come, sit down and eat. Later I'll have to give that little scoundrel a few lashes, how can he be so disobedient, letting the tiger of Xiajin stand for so long?"

  Xu Wei sat down and saw that everything was meaty and all were substantial things. Big pork knuckles, big chunks of meat, big steamed buns, except for the small table, everything else was big.

  "Your Excellency, punishment is not necessary. However, the security of your central military camp should be strengthened. If I were your opponent, I would definitely send someone to infiltrate your camp by any means possible!"