Chapter 33: The Colonel

  The result of the morning meeting was predictable. Under Long Fei's clever argument, coupled with Dong Zhuo's subordinates assisting from the side, and those officials who had a grudge against the Yuan family kicking them while they were down, Yuan Wei could only grit his teeth and donate money and grain. Today, Yuan Wei saw clearly that Dong Zhuo had never intended to spend his own money to establish the Western Garden Eight Schools, but rather wanted to take advantage of Long Fei's hands to deal with himself.

  Of course, Long Fei also understood that since entering the imperial court, everyone did not mention Xie En's matter. When Li Ru proposed the idea of forming the West Garden Eight Schools, he already knew in his heart. As for why Yuan Yi was chosen, it was also Li Su's instruction. When Cai Yong refuted, Li Su only said a word "daring". But when Yuan Yi refuted, Li Su immediately brought up Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and even said that Yuan Yi had colluded with them, openly trying to frame Yuan Yi. Long Fei was just being used as Dong Zhuo's gun.

  Back home, Yuan Yi's sleeve was thrown over the table, knocking over a tea bowl on the ground, scaring everyone in the house away. Yuan Feng looked around and refilled Yuan Yi's cup with tea, saying: "Third brother doesn't need to be so angry, today at court Dong Zhuo clearly wanted to deal with our Yuan family, taking out some money and grain for temporary peace is fine!"

  "What did the second brother say? When has our family, the Yuans, ever suffered such humiliation?" Yuan Yi was still fuming: "He wants to drive our family to death, and now he's pushing me to the limit. I'll immediately have Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu rise up in arms, let's see how long he can keep being arrogant!"

  "Now is not the time, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu have just stabilized their footing, with few soldiers under them. Dong Zhuo has taken over He Jin's troops and become powerful, controlling Luoyang. It's best not to take up arms unless absolutely necessary! Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu also need time!"

  Yuan Wei ignored him and shouted towards the gate: "Go, bring Lord Lu, General Huangfu, Minister Wang, and Commander Zhang to me. Tell them there's an important matter to discuss!"

  "What are you looking for Wang Yun? Isn't that Long Feng introduced by Wang Yun to Dong Zhuo?" Yuan Fang immediately stopped him.

  Yuan Yi said coldly, "I just want to ask Wang Yun if he isn't satisfied with Dong Zhuo's claws and is adding more manpower for him? That Long Fei is cunning and eloquent, speaking nonsense at will. One look and you can tell he's not a good person! Introducing such a person to Dong Zhuo is clearly aiding a tiger!"

  Several people who received the news came to the Yuan residence. They were all high-ranking officials of the imperial court, and naturally they also knew what had happened in the imperial court. Seeing that Yuan Wei's face was not good, Wang Yun hurriedly stepped forward to apologize. Yuan Feng didn't even look at him, but instead made a fist to the crowd: "Everyone, you all know what happened on the imperial court today. Dong Zhuo is trying to destroy our imperial court. Today he used me as a scapegoat, tomorrow it might be you. My family has produced three generations of high-ranking officials, and I don't think Dong Zhuo will dare to do anything to us. But if it were you, it would be hard to say, wouldn't it, Lord Lu? Didn't Dong Zhuo almost kill you just the other day?"

  Lu Zhi shook his head and let out a long sigh: "The great Han is unfortunate, we ministers are powerless to do anything, and it seems that we will all die at the hands of these treacherous officials!"

  Zhang Wen turned his head and said to Wang Yun: "Wang Si-tu, isn't Long Fei your man? Why is he acting like this today?"

  Wang Yun hastily cupped his hands and said to the crowd: "Everyone, please forgive me. Long Fei was originally my housekeeper, but a few days ago he was favored by Dong Zhuo during a hunting trip and was forcibly taken away. When he was in my mansion, he was diligent and hardworking, but as soon as he gained Dong Zhuo's recognition, he became like this. It is I who failed to teach him properly! Lord Yuan, everyone, please rest assured that Long Fei still lives in my mansion for the time being. After returning, I will definitely discipline him severely!"

  "I hope so!" Yuan Wei glared at Wang Yun.

  This gathering had no substantial content, all were just nonsense. It was Yuan Yi's bad mood, finding these people to ask for their crimes, and after a short conversation, several people dispersed. Wang Yun had just returned to his residence when he saw Long Fei drinking tea in his own study, and upon seeing Wang Yun return, he didn't even get up. Wang Yun smiled and shook his head: "General Long, you've really made an old man suffer! Tonight I endured a night of scolding for you! Although it's said that this is your way of getting close to Dong Zhuo, but you can't target the Yuan family, this Yuan family isn't easy to mess with!"

  Long Fei put down his tea bowl: "It's precisely because he's not easy to provoke that I want to provoke him. Only by targeting the Yuan family will Dong Zhuo truly believe I'm on his side."

  Wang Yun nodded: "What are you planning to do next?"

  "Train troops!" Long Fei replied, "Dong Zhuo controls all the troops in Luoyang, and his trusted men from Xiliang alone number 20,000. If we don't have our own troops, even if we reach a point where we can take down Dong Zhuo, it will be difficult to make a move. If we can't control the situation in Luoyang in time, naturally there will be a second and third Dong Zhuo emerging. At that time, won't Lord Wang still have to spend money to invite us?"

  "That's enough! This time inviting you all has already cost me a fortune!" King Yong waved his hands repeatedly.

  The position of Sima was first established in the Qin dynasty as a mid-level military officer. Emperor Wu of Han set up eight Simas, namely Zhonglei, Tunqi, Foot Soldiers, Yueji, Changshui, Huji, Sheying and Huben, to strengthen the defense of Chang'an City. The ranks of the eight Simas were all equivalent to Bi'erqian (ranked second). During the Eastern Han dynasty, the position of Zhonglei Sima was abolished, Huji was merged into Changshui, and Huben was merged into Sheying, leaving only five Simas. At the end of the Han dynasty, Emperor Ling specially established the Xiyuan Eight Simas to take charge of military power near the capital. As wars were frequent at the end of the Han dynasty, many had military achievements, and the position of Sima had greatly diminished, becoming a lower-ranking official among military officers. When Dong Zhuo rebuilt the Xiyuan Eight Simas this time, he was actually building a guard corps for himself to protect his life when necessary.

  Long Fei and Zhao Yun were also among the newly established eight schools in Xiyuan, but they did not hold any important official positions. Above them was the Upper Army Colonel Dong Zhuo, who would immediately put an end to any evil intentions, leaving no room for burial. However, although their official positions were not important, they were still part of Dong Zhuo's core circle and were leaders of his personal guard troops. It was exceptional that they received such attention as soon as they joined Dong Zhuo's camp.

  In Dong Zhuo's plan, the eight schools of Xiyuan were rebuilt with 5,000 people each, allocated according to the method set by Emperor Wu of Han. Dong Chao's subordinate, Shangjun, was in charge of guarding the imperial palace and the Tai Shi Fu. Xu Rong was in charge of the 5,000 Western Liang infantry and served as Dong Chao's deputy. Zhang Xiu was in charge of the 5,000 Western Liang cavalry. Long Fei was in charge of the 5,000 heavy cavalry. Zhao Yun was in charge of the 5,000 bow cavalry. Li Shi was in charge of the 5,000 Western Liang bow cavalry. Gao Shun was in charge of the 5,000 infantry. Zhang Liao was in charge of the 5,000 light cavalry. The eight people, except for Dong Chao and Xu Rong, were divided to guard the four sides of Luoyang.

  Among them, Dong Jue, Xu Rong, Zhang Xiu and Li Shi were either trusted followers of Dong Zhuo or their sons and nephews. Therefore, the soldiers under their command were all elite troops from Luoyang, and they were all Western Liang soldiers. Long Fei, Zhao Yun, Gao Shun and Zhang Liao did not have it so good. Dong Zhuo only gave them a quota for recruiting soldiers and enough grain to feed five thousand people. They had to find their own soldiers and weapons.

  "This is terrible! It turns out we're stepchildren!" Long Fei said with a bitter smile.

  Zhao Yun shook his head: "What to do? Really going to recruit soldiers?"

  "What else can we do? Guang Gang is just a lieutenant! Dragon Flying said: "Tomorrow, you will post the recruitment notice to see if anyone responds. If not, I'll quit!"

  "How can Lord Long say such a thing?" Gao Shun and Zhang Liao entered from the door. This place was originally the barracks of the eight schools in Xiyuan, but since those people were dismissed, no one had lived here. Now it became their base. The speaker was Zhang Liao, because of the gift horse, he and Long Fei became much closer. Gao Shun still looked serious, not saying a word from the moment he entered.

  "It's just the two of you, please sit down quickly, Second Brother, serve tea!"

  After drinking a mouthful of tea, they talked about the difficulty of recruiting soldiers. The four of them were all at a loss. Recruiting soldiers was originally not a difficult task, as the world was in chaos and refugees were everywhere, and many people were willing to join the army just to get enough food to eat. However, Luoyang was different from other places. After Dong Zhuo took power, he issued an order that no beggars were allowed within 100 miles of Luoyang City, and those who were caught would be executed. As a result, all the people who had no way to make a living fled, leaving behind only those who were unwilling to join the army, let alone serve under Dong Zhuo.

  "What's your good plan?" Long Fei asked.

  Zhang Liao shook his head: "Apart from drafting soldiers, there is no other way. At present, Luoyang City wants to become a soldier, and there are not many people. The four of us need 20,000 troops, how easy is it?"

  Gao Shun, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up and said: "I have a plan that might get us 20,000 soldiers, but I don't know if you all have the guts for it?"

  "Mr. Gao, please speak!"

  "In the hundred-mile radius around Luoyang, due to the Taishi's orders, there are no beggars, so we can't recruit any soldiers!" Gao Shun still had a poker face and spoke in a flat tone: "From what I know, thirty miles south of Luoyang, there is a mountain called White Wolf Valley. In the valley, there is a group of bandits who were originally remnants of the Yellow Turbans. After Zhang Jue was defeated, they settled here and have now become the largest gang of thieves in the vicinity of Luoyang, harassing travelers on the road. The leaders are four people: Yang Feng, Li Yue, Han Xian, and Hu Cai, all mediocre individuals who have been using the mountains and hills to evade the imperial army. If we can make these few people surrender, we can get soldiers and horses!"

  "How many men do they have? To solve our manpower problem, we need twenty thousand men!" Zhang Liao hastily asked.

  Zhao Yun furrowed his brow: "We are now only four people, one, two, three, four. According to Gao Da's words, we can solve our military problem, but that is a large army of tens of thousands, and the four of us will go to attack the tens of thousands of enemy soldiers?"

  "Fight? We can fight! At worst, we can borrow some troops from the Queen Dowager! The only question is what kind of strength those people have. Can we win in one battle?" Long Fei said.

  The four fell silent again. After a while, Zhang Liao said: "Since we don't know, let's go and investigate. The four of us thinking hard here still won't know! Why don't we set off now?"

  The plan was set, Long Fei deliberately brought Taren over, the more people the better. Unexpectedly, Wang also followed. Their team expanded by half in an instant, from four to six people. They all rode horses out of Luoyang South Gate and rushed towards Bai Lang Valley. Everyone's heart was racing with anxiety, as they were only six people, and if they encountered bandits, it would be hard to say whether they could escape or not. Although the opponents were incompetent, at least Long Fei didn't notice their names in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Still, caution was needed, as Long Fei understood the principle that a multitude of ants can kill an elephant.