Chapter 88

  "What?" Shangguan Yuangei doubted whether he had misheard, weren't his two brothers resentful of Tang Yin to the bone? How could they suddenly decide to surrender to him? This was impossible! He opened his mouth but couldn't speak, stunned for a long time before asking: "Lord Tang, is this true?"

  "Of course!" Tang Yin said with a smile: "Just now, both of them were slightly injured and are resting in the backyard. If Officer Shang doesn't believe it, he can go and see for himself!"

  He didn't seem to be lying, and he had no need to lie to himself. Xiang Yuandi stood up involuntarily and asked in doubt: "Can... can it be?"

  "Of course!" Tang Yin stood up and smiled: "Officer Shang, please follow me!" As he spoke, he walked towards the back door of the reception hall.

  Shangguan Yuanyi hastily followed up, all the way, he was worried and puzzled in his heart, mainly because he couldn't understand how his two brothers had changed so quickly and so greatly.

  Tang Yin led the way, bringing Shangguan Yuange to the backyard of the county government office. After walking for a while, they stopped in front of a guest room door. Tang Yin knocked on the door twice lightly. Before long, the door opened and a middle-aged man wearing a green robe stood at the entrance.

  This was a military doctor who had treated the Shangguan brothers' eyes. Seeing Tang Yin, the military doctor hastily bowed and saluted, saying: "Lord Tang!"

  Tang Yin nodded and looked at Shangguan brothers who were lying on the bed inside the house, asking: "How are their eyes?"

  "It's nothing serious, just a minor injury from smoke inhalation. With a few days of rest, you'll be back to normal." The military doctor said sincerely.

  "Good! Alright." Tang Yin heard this and also secretly let out a breath of relief, leading Shangguan Yuanyi into the room.

  As he entered the room, he saw that his two brothers were motionless with their eyes covered in gauze. Xiang Yu quickly walked forward and called out anxiously: "Yu Wu! Yu Biao!"

  "Big brother, how...how did you come?" The two brothers, Shangguan, were indeed not seriously injured, only their eyes were smoked and now after applying medicine, the pain was no longer as severe as before. At this moment, they suddenly heard Shangguan Yuange's voice, both brothers were very surprised.

  Just listening to the two men's confident voices, Shangguan Yuanguo knew that they were indeed fine. Adding to this, the military doctor said that neither of their eye injuries was serious, and only then did he put his mind at ease.

  His tense emotions were relieved, and his anger immediately ignited. He shouted: "How did I get here? Do you two still have the nerve to ask? In the past, your reckless behavior was tolerable, but now it's even more outrageous. You actually dare to come and assassinate Lord Tang... you... all of you..."

  Shangguan Yuanyi got angrier and angrier, but didn't know what to scold his two brothers for.

  Shangguan Yuanbiao chuckled and said with a smile, "Big brother, don't be angry. Although I couldn't see his eyes, it wasn't hard to guess the look of anger on his face at this time. He spoke with a playful expression: "Big brother, don't be angry, Third Brother and I just had some misunderstandings with Master, but now that they're cleared up, we've decided to follow Master from now on."

  Shangguan Yuanwu interjected, "Big brother, I think you should just give up on being a wealthy merchant and follow the adults instead. This way, we brothers can be together again and take care of each other."

  "What?!" Shangguan Yuanyi was somewhat taken aback. The two brothers who hated Tang Yin the most were now turning around and pulling him to surrender to Tang Yin together. He was both angry and amused, and even suspected that Tang Yin had cast a spell on them.

  At this moment when he didn't know how to react, Tang Yin walked up from behind and asked with a faint smile: "Brother Shangguan, what Yuanwu and Yuanbiao said is reasonable, I wonder what you think?"

  Shangguan Yuangei shook his head and smiled bitterly. Could he still say no at this point? Now that things had come to this, he could only stake everything on a gamble. Since Tang Yin had the magical power to tame these two unruly brothers, perhaps assisting him would truly lead to great accomplishments.

  He turned back, cupped his hands and bowed, saying: "Your subordinate is Gong Yuanyi, willing to accept your invitation, sincerely assist, and contribute a humble effort to your great cause!"

  As soon as this was said, the spirits of all present were lifted, especially Tang Yin. Without thinking, he stepped forward and raised Yuangui's arm, smiling and saying: "With Yuanji helping me, I have nothing to worry about!"

  In the next, three of the four brothers of Shangguan all went to Tang Yan's command, Shangguan Yuanwu and Shangguan Yuanbiao became Tang Yan's most trusted and loyal guardian generals, followed him left and right in the south and north battles, made countless military achievements, while Shangguan Yuanji became Tang Yan's internal affairs backing, providing a solid backing for his conquest of the world.

  Meeting Qiu Zhen can be said to be a turning point in Tang Yin's fate, and capturing Shangguan Yuange was another major turning point. It wasn't until then that the core framework of the Tang Yin system was basically formed.

  Inside there is Shangguan Yuanji, outside there is Qiu Zhen. These two can be said to be the two most important advisors of Tang Yin's early period, and also the accelerators that truly pushed him to rise rapidly.

  In the following days, Pingyuan County was very peaceful. The bandit troubles were greatly alleviated due to the surrender of the two brothers, Shangguan Yuanwu and Shangguan Yuanbiao. The neighboring state of Mohe Federation also did not send troops to harass them, providing Tang Yan with a rare opportunity to train his army.

  Shangguan Yuanyi's move quickly paid off, not only was the internal affairs of Pingyuan County rectified, but also the recruitment of new soldiers became much easier. Shangguan Yuanyi had a high reputation in Pingyuan County, and even he was willing to surrender to Tang Yi, ordinary civilians also gained confidence and were willing to join the military.

  As the new recruits poured in, the three legions of Pingyuan County became increasingly busy. Soon, all three legions were fully replenished with personnel to spare. Tang Yin then began considering adding two more legions.

  It was at this time that the memorial to Yangzhou was approved, and Feng Wang Zhanhua approved his proposal, recognizing Tang Yin's establishment of five battalions under Pingyuan County. However, due to the war, it was impossible to dispatch personnel from the capital, and the manpower for the new battalion had to be resolved by Tang Yin himself.

  Tang Yin never expected Yancheng to send someone over, and Zhan Hua's orders were also in line with his wishes.

  Along with Zhan Hua's will, a flirtatious letter was also sent over.

  The letter mentioned that Wu Yu highly praised the increase of troops under Tang Yin's command, and the reason is simple. Tang Yin was promoted by Wu Jia himself, and the more troops he controlled, the more troops Wu Jia controlled. Of course, Feng Wang Zhanhua's quick approval of Tang Yin's memorial was also related to Wu Yu's strong recommendation.

  Wu Mei was also delighted about this matter, but she and Wu Yu had different ideas. She thought that the increase in troops in Pingyuan County would naturally make Tang Yin's situation safer. In her letter, she repeatedly asked about Tang Yin's recent situation and whether he had adapted to life in Pingyuan County after his arrival.

  After reading the letter from head to toe, Tang Yin wrote a reply to Wu Mei, which was about some trivial matters and also told Wu Mei not to worry about herself, he would be careful with his actions, etc.

  He also wrote a letter to Deng Mingyang, asking about the recent situation in Dachang.

  Having obtained Feng Wang's approval, Tang Yin's expansion became even more high-profile.

  He newly established the 4th and 5th Infantry Regiments of Pingyuan County, with Gu Yue as the regimental commander of the 4th Regiment and Chen Fang as the deputy regimental commander. The regimental commander of the 5th Regiment was Li Wei, and the deputy regimental commander was Liu Zhongsheng. Although the personnel of the two regiments were not yet complete, they had nearly 10,000 people when combined, which was a force that could not be ignored.

  A month's time has passed in busyness.

  That day, Tang Yin had just gotten out of bed when he heard a knock at the door.

  "Welcome!"

  The door opened and a man in his forties walked in from outside.

  This is the new housekeeper found by Tang Yin, whose real name is Zhang Zhong. He was an old soldier in the army and served as the quartermaster of the first battalion of the first regiment. He was a native of Pingyuan County, and his family had been killed by the iron hooves of the barbarian soldiers. Although he was over 40 years old, he was still a lone man with no family. He had already reached the age of retirement but remained in the army because he had nowhere to go. Tang Yin accidentally discovered him and asked him to be his housekeeper after inquiring about his situation. Zhang Zhong gladly accepted and changed his surname to Tang, becoming Tang Zhong.

  Tang Zhong was originally a steward, and he also managed the household with ease. Moreover, as a former soldier, he was loyal and honest. Tang Yin trusted him greatly, and all major and minor matters in the county government were handled by him alone.

  "Anything wrong?" Tang Yin asked.

  "Your Honor, Sir! The Magistrate requests an audience!" Tang Zhong first bowed deeply, then spoke in a soft voice.

  "Oh?" Tang Yin smiled and said, "Please ask him to wait for me in the living room for a while!"

  "Yes, sir." Tang Zhong replied and quickly turned around and left.

  Tang Yin didn't keep Shangguan Yuange waiting for long. The latter had just sat down in the living room and taken two sips of tea when Tang Yin arrived.

  "Yuán Jí, what brings you to find me?" During this time, Tang Yin had been very appreciative of Shangguan Yuánjí's abilities and his tone was also very affectionate.

  "Sir!" Seeing Tang Yin, Shangguan Yuangei hastily put down his teacup, stood up straight and saluted with a bow. Then he said seriously: "I heard that the army is currently short of war horses, I wonder if this is true?"

  Tang Yin sat in the middle and nodded his head, saying: "Indeed it is so!"

  Pingyuan County didn't have any cavalry troops at all, and there was a severe shortage of war horses. Tang Yin had his heart set on establishing a cavalry unit, but the lack of war horses was indeed a problem.

  He rolled his eyes and changed the subject, smiling and asking: "Does Yuanji have a way to get war horses?"

  Shangguan Yuangei secretly praised Tang Yin's quick reaction, and he nodded and said: "I have dealings with many merchants, including horse traders. Buying a batch of war horses is not a difficult task. I just want to know what the adults plan to do with this batch of war horses?"

  Tang Yin said: "Of course it's fighting against the barbarian troops!"

  Shangguan Yuangei nodded, he had already expected this answer, and smiled slightly, saying: "The barbarian soldiers are fierce and brave, good at fighting, but the war horses of our country, no matter how fast or strong they are, even if we form a cavalry team, I think they will not play a big role in the battle with the barbarians, and instead waste our own money!"

  "Oh?" This was not what Tang Yin had expected. He lowered his head, deep in thought, carefully considering the words. After a moment, he asked: "So, what do you mean by that, Yuan Ji? Are we not going to use cavalry?"