Chapter 62: Five Northern Army Schools Soon, Lu Zhi went out of the camp himself, saw Tian Ze from afar, and came to greet him with a smile. Tian Ze quickly dismounted, trotted forward and greeted him, saying, "Disciple Tian Ze, greetings to Master Lu." Tian Ze sincerely admired and was grateful to Lu Zhi. A teacher is someone who teaches, accepts students, and resolves their doubts. If it weren't for Lu Zhi's appreciation, he wouldn't be so valued by the family, and his businesses in various places wouldn't have developed so smoothly when he started out. Moreover, Lu Zhi's character and ability are all worthy of sincere respect. Lu Zhi smiled and helped his favorite student up: "Chengshou, you have lived up to my expectations of you and have done a great job in Liaodong. If there were more heroes like you in the court, the Han border would no longer have to worry." "Master Lu, thank you for your compliment." Tian Ze said modestly. After pulling Tian Ze to the central army tent, Lu Zhi introduced his subordinates, the General of the Wuhuan Guard, and the captains of the five schools of the Northern Army to Tian Ze. Then everyone began to talk to each other about their experiences and the situation of the Yellow Turbans in Jizhou. Originally, Tian Ze thought that the Yellow Turban Rebellion was just a large-scale rebellion and would not amount to anything significant.
But after listening to what Lu Zhi said, he realized that he had thought too simply. Zhang Jiao was not as simple as he imagined. He was indeed extremely terrifying. The eight states responded at the same time, and Yuzhou, Yanzhou, and Jizhou, where the main forces of the Yellow Turbans were located, were all close to Sili. Zhang Jiao was playing a big game! He preached for more than ten years, and his followers were spread all over the place. Even in Luoyang, there were many eunuchs and officials who were his believers, and the same was true for officials in other places. With his call, countless government troops defected and some even offered the city as a sacrifice. The rebels took advantage of the situation and were unstoppable, conquering everywhere. If Tang Zhou had not informed on him, once Zhang Jiao had made all the necessary preparations, he would have had the opportunity to lead the main forces of the Yellow Turbans from the three states to attack Luoyang at the first possible moment. At the same time, it is not impossible for the Yellow Turbans in various places to cooperate closely and quickly control several states. In this way, he is not without a chance of success. But unfortunately, he underestimated the powerful families. Tian Ze had roughly guessed the cause of the Yellow Turban Rebellion based on what Lu Zhi said and the information he had learned previously. The biggest driving force behind this must be the aristocratic and powerful families. Because the Yellow Turban Rebellion forced the emperor to lift the ban on political parties, the power of local powerful families expanded, and they were the ultimate beneficiaries. Although the aristocratic families pushed Zhang Jue behind the scenes, what they wanted was to enhance their own strength and voice rather than push Zhang Jue to the throne of emperor. After all, Zhang Jiao was much more dangerous than Liu Hong. Zhang Jue was just a knife to them, and the powerful families never really thought of helping him succeed. Therefore, Zhang Jue's failure was inevitable. Ever since he got involved with the aristocratic and powerful families, he was doomed to fail and was schemed against by those cunning guys. This once again sounded the alarm for Tian Ze. You must never play any conspiracy with the aristocratic families, let alone cooperate or compromise, otherwise you will definitely be killed. They must be suppressed and conquered with absolute force, and they must make all the rules and control everything by themselves. In the following days, Tian Ze followed Lu Zhi and waited for orders. Under Lu Zhi's command, he not only had the Five Schools of the Northern Army and the Wuhuan Cavalry, but also county soldiers from all over the place, so he did not need Tian Ze to provide much help.
Therefore, Tian Ze rarely participated in direct confrontations, and mainly relied on the advantages of cavalry to be responsible for intelligence gathering, protecting the people, cutting off the retreat route, and chasing after the enemy. In addition to the battle, Tian Ze, Pang De and Xun You had been observing the combat situation of the five schools of the Northern Army and were all amazed. Tunqi Battalion, Yueqi Battalion, Infantry Battalion, Changshui Battalion, Shesheng Battalion. Among them, Tunqi Battalion, Yueqi Battalion, and Changshui Battalion are all cavalry, but their combat styles are very different. The soldiers of the Tunqiying were united as one, like a sharp blade on the battlefield. Their organizational ability made Tian Ze think of Gao Shun's Xianzhen Camp. The Yue Cavalry Battalion fought and charged fiercely, even more bravely than the Xiliang Cavalry led by Ma Teng, and repeatedly broke through the enemy's formation. The Changshui Camp is good at riding and shooting. They come and go as fast as the wind, just like butterflies flying around the battlefield. The infantry battalion is composed of heavy infantry wearing heavy armor and holding large shields. They are like a steel wall, always standing in the center of the battlefield, giving people an endless sense of security. The Shesheng Battalion was composed entirely of young and strong archers, usually following closely behind the Infantry Battalion. The soldiers' archery skills were extremely accurate and they caused extremely horrific casualties to the Yellow Turbans. Sometimes a single round of volleys could clear an area of the battlefield. The five schools of the Northern Army, with a total strength of less than 5,000, led more than 20,000 officers and soldiers and defeated the nearly 200,000 Yellow Turban Army without any chance of fighting back. Tian Ze was envious and really wanted to recruit these elite troops under his command, but he knew that was impossible. The Five Northern Army Schools are the foundation of the Han Dynasty, and the imperial court would never allow a frontier army general like him to get involved. Moreover, Tian Ze keenly realized that the captains of the five schools were not actually strong, and their talents might not have been activated. However, the five schools of the Northern Army actually demonstrated the effect of their talents. Tian Ze knew in his heart that this might be one of the accumulations of the Han Dynasty over hundreds of years. After all, it is impossible for every generation of the captains of the Five Schools of the Northern Army to be outstanding people. When the imperial court recruits people, especially for extremely important positions such as the captains of the Five Schools of the Northern Army, what it values most is loyalty, and only on this basis do they consider ability. Those who can make the court feel at ease are generally of clean background and have received a good education since childhood, which makes it difficult to guarantee their ability. Compared with individuals, the court must have more trust in the relatively stable collective such as the army. Therefore, the court probably used the army as a carrier to condense its talents. This speculation instantly opened up new ideas for Tian Ze. Soon, Zhang Jue was driven all the way to Guangzong by Lu Zhi, where he defended the city to the death and dared not show his head again. Tian Ze also had some free time. He arranged for Dian Wei to lead a small number of cavalry to patrol and reconnaissance every day, while he took Pang De and Xun You to have a banquet with the captains of the five schools of the Northern Army. After all, Tian Ze was a local governor and General of the Central Army. Although the five schools of the Northern Army were directly under the imperial court and their positions were naturally one level higher than those of local officers and soldiers, Tian Ze's rank was already high, and the status of both parties was equal. In addition, Tian Ze was the favorite general of the general and Lu Zhonglang. He was humble and generous. He took the initiative to provide a large amount of meat. Naturally, the captains of the five schools were happy to interact with him. So Tian Ze and his civil and military officials began to learn from others... Although Tian Ze can only absorb part of it with his qualifications, he has Pang De and Xun You by his side. Not only were they able to understand and absorb everything, but they were also able to draw inferences from one instance and put forward their own opinions, which gave the captains of the five schools a good communication experience. Some confidential experiences will not be mentioned by many people, but many semi-public secrets can be shared. These secrets are known to some of the top aristocratic families and the families of generals and ministers with a long history, but Tian Ze's identity is not deep enough, so he has never heard of them. As for Xun You, the Xun family must have it, but they did not reveal it to him. After all, Xun You's status in the Xun family was not high, and he was not qualified to have contact. Pang De and Xun You mastered these secrets well, learned a lot of combat experience, and benefited greatly.
Tian Ze asked them to record it in a book and prepare to use it as one of the training materials in the military academy in the future. And he himself went to find Lu Zhi. (End of this chapter)