Chapter 22: Accidental Success

  (PS: Thanks for 'Dong Weng Yang Fang' friend's reward, today is still two updates of over 10,000 words, the second update is still at night.)

  The war horses were equipped, and while the cavalry training began, the relocation work of the Junzi military camp was also quickly put on Tao Ying's schedule - Tao Ying did not want to expose his advanced equipment and tactics outside Xuzhou City, allowing some traitors to leak Tao Ying's secrets to Emperor Cao Pi. Therefore, as soon as the war horses were allocated, Tao Ying immediately decided to request Tao Qian to allow himself to leave Pengcheng and station elsewhere under the pretext that cavalry training required vast space.

  After listening to Chen Deng's good advice, Tao Ying had already decided to choose the new camp of Junzi Army in Wu County, 80 miles south of Pengcheng. However, what puzzled Chen Deng, who was secretly observing Tao Ying, was that despite his clear words, Tao Ying still publicly asked Tao Qian to move the new camp of Junzi Army to Xiaopei, which was currently the richest and most prosperous place in Xuzhou. As a result, just as Chen Deng had expected, Tao Qian, who was severely weakened overall, did not dare to hand over Xiaopei to his son without any reason, and bluntly rejected Tao Ying's request, also allowing Zou brothers to mock him behind his back - Tao Ying is indeed an ignorant bookworm!

  The request to move to Xiapei was rejected, and Tao Ying had no choice but to compromise and ask to move to Wuyue County instead. As a result, Tao Qian did not embarrass his son again this time and readily agreed to Tao Ying's request, allowing the entire Junzi Army to relocate to Wuyue County. At the same time, Tao Qian also voluntarily delegated power, letting Tao Ying take charge of political affairs in Wuyue County, preparing to observe his son's military ability while also casually testing his political ability. Tao Ying understood and accepted the order, immediately starting to handle the various tasks related to the relocation of the Junzi Army camp.

  The relocation of the camp was set on April 6, and by the evening of April 5, Tao had almost completed the preparations and arrangements for the relocation of the Junzi Army. Rarely leaving the Junzi Army camp before dark, he led a dozen or so personal soldiers back to Xuzhou City to bid farewell to Tao Qian and Tao Shang.

  The soldiers beside Tao Ying were all Dan Yang soldiers sent by Cao Hong, who had followed Tao Qian for many years. They were not only Tao Ying's reliable confidants but also his informants. Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity to leave the camp and return to the city, Tao Ying asked the Dan Yang soldiers about the recent counter-surveillance situation of the Junzi Army - that is, whether there were still any traitors secretly monitoring and spying on the Junzi Army's movements. Li Ming, an old man from Dan Yang who was appointed by Tao Ying as the captain of the guard, replied: "Reporting to Young Master, since the enemy spy was discovered but not disturbed by our army ten days ago, we have not found any suspicious persons again, and even the onlookers among the civilians have decreased significantly."

  "That's good." Tao Ying nodded in satisfaction, knowing that his plan to substitute the peaches for plums had succeeded, and that he had relaxed his vigilance on the Mou brothers who were building the Thunderbolt car, or they no longer dared to continue spying - previously in the counter-surveillance war, Cao Hong had secretly taken out two of the Mou brothers' informants for Tao Ying, indirectly issuing a warning. Unless the Mou brothers wanted to completely fall out with their nominal master Tao Yan, they would have to be more restrained.

  "Report." It seemed to be intentionally coming to slap Li Ming, the captain of the Tao Ying army, in the face. A Dan Yang soldier who appeared to have a grudge against Li Ming suddenly caught up and whispered beside Tao Ying: "I beg to report to the young master, I found that there is someone following our troops from behind, and that person seems to have been secretly following us since the young master left the camp, and has already followed us for two miles. It can be determined that this person must be a spy!"

  "Damn it, it's endless!" Tao Yong was getting a bit angry, thinking to himself that he had already prepared to hide in Wuyuan County to avoid them, but these two idiots still sent someone to tail and monitor him. Did they really think he was a sick cat? Even if he moved to Wuyuan County, would they still send people to follow and monitor him there?

  In a rage, Tao Hua turned back to take a closer look and saw that in the distant hazy night color, there was indeed someone secretly following behind his team. Although it was too dark and far away to see the person's appearance clearly, just by looking at his sneaky movements, he was absolutely not a good intentioned person, no doubt a thief. At this moment, Tao Hua thought for a moment and intentionally raised his voice to command: "Li Ming, I forgot to bring some official documents, they are on the desk in my bedroom, send a few people back to get them."

  After that, Tao Ying lowered his voice and ordered Li Ming: "Pretend to go back and get the documents, and take down that spy from behind!"

  "Alright." Li Ming nodded in understanding and asked in a low voice: "Young master, do you want to die or live?"

  "Take him alive!" Tao Ying gritted his teeth and ordered: "After capturing him, bring him to my bedroom, wait for me to return from the city, and I will personally interrogate this traitor."

  Li Ming agreed and immediately made arrangements according to plan. The four Dan Yang soldiers turned their horses around, pretending to go back to fetch some forgotten documents for Tao Ying. They rode back to the Junzi military camp, while the scout in the distance didn't suspect anything because he had heard Tao Ying's loud orders. He even stepped aside and let the four Dan Yang soldiers pass by, with his back turned to them. The old veterans under Tao Ying's command saw an opportunity and took advantage of it without hesitation. One of the Dan Yang soldiers quietly drew out a knife and as they passed by the scout, suddenly leaned forward on horseback, turned the hilt of the knife around, and struck the scout heavily on the back of his head with the hilt. The scout didn't even have time to groan before he fell softly to the ground. The remaining Dan Yang soldiers quickly dismounted, pulled out a rope like magic, tied up the unconscious scout, threw him onto their warhorse, and left swiftly and efficiently.

  "Done beautifully." Tao Ying was very satisfied with the efficiency of the Danyang soldiers, and instructed: "Find a sack to put him in and send it back, wait for me to return and interrogate, remember, don't let anyone else see him, lest we scare away the snake by beating the grass." After saying this, Tao Ying patted his horse and headed towards the city, not paying any attention to the unlucky little spy's life or death. Later, Tao Ying's personal soldiers brought a sack and put the spy in it, secretly sending him to the Junzi military camp without mentioning it.

  Tao Ying saw Tao Qian and Tao Shang in the city. Tao Ying had to bid farewell to Tao Qian by bowing his head, explaining that he would leave early tomorrow and couldn't come back to see him off again. He also apologized to Tao Shang for not being able to take care of their father, asking his elder brother to forgive him. Tao Qian and Tao Shang repeatedly reminded Tao Ying to take care of himself and not overwork, and also instructed him on family matters such as dressing and eating. After chatting for a long time, Tao Qian dismissed Tao Shang, leaving only Tao Ying alone to have a private conversation. Then, he asked Tao Ying straightforwardly: "My son, you want to move to Wú County, I don't object, but you decided to relocate just to avoid those two treacherous villains, isn't that too weak?"

  "Father misunderstood, the child requests to move to Wú County, to avoid those two treacherous villains, it's just one of the purposes." Tao Ying replied respectfully: "The child said that cavalry training needs vast space, and it's not an excuse, the terrain around Wú County is complex, with mountains, forests, rivers, plains, and hills, all complete. Now, with the population greatly reduced, the land is vast and the people are sparse, it's indeed an ideal place for cavalry training, far better than Xu State City which has too many people and too little land."

  "Why did you first propose to move to Xiaopei?" Tao Qian asked two more questions, "Also, although my father is a civil servant by origin, but I have also seen the training of cavalry, nothing more than a few horse riding skills, what secrets can be spoken? You are clever, but have never experienced the battlefield, staying in Pengcheng to train cavalry, Cao Jue and Cao Hong can both help you with one arm's strength, isn't it far better than your closed-door manufacturing?"

  "If you didn't first propose to move to Xiaopei, but directly requested to move to Wuyuan, wouldn't someone suspect that you have great ambitions and are planning to lie in wait? Tao Ying smiled and replied: "After the chaos caused by Cao Ze, Xiaopei was the least affected and its prosperity has already far surpassed other cities in Xuzhou. For a rich young master like you who has never had to lift a finger, wouldn't it be unreasonable not to want to move to Xiaopei?"

  Tao Qian looked at Tao Ying with a glance, and his old face full of wrinkles showed some relief, laughing and scolding: "You dare to deceive even your father, thinking you're just enjoying the good life in Xiaoyi. No wonder you wanted to propose moving to Xiaoyi in front of those two treacherous dogs, it turns out you wanted them to think you have no great ambitions."

  "The child should die, but at present our Xuzhou army is severely damaged and cannot withstand any more unexpected setbacks. Therefore, the child must be extremely cautious." Tao Ying knocked his head to apologize, then raised his head and said: "As for Father's opinion that the child staying in Xuzhou to practice military skills can get rich experience from Cao Jiao and Cao Hong, two generals who are experienced on the battlefield - forgive me for being rude, but I think the tactics and command methods of the two Cao generals are outdated and have reached the edge of being completely eliminated. If they help me practice military skills, not only will it not help me, but it will also backfire and make my plan to practice military skills twice as difficult."

  "Outdated? Cao Jiao and Cao Hong are already outdated?" Tao Qian was both puzzled by the strange terms in his son's mouth, and somewhat dissatisfied with his son's belittling of his two most trusted confidants. He said: "My son, having confidence is a good thing, but to look down on others without measuring one's own strength, that is arrogance."

  "My son's words are impolite, please forgive him." Tao Ying said again: "But my son is not arrogant, but absolutely confident! My son can guarantee with his head that within six months, he will train an invincible cavalry for his father that will conquer all and win every battle! At that time, Generals Cao Jiao and Cao Hong will have to come to my son to learn the methods of training cavalry and the art of using them."

  It's true that in the chaotic world of the late Eastern Han dynasty, Tao Qian, who had been struggling for decades, would not easily believe his son's boastful words. However, fortunately, Tao Ying's recent actions had already made Tao Qian look at this book-smart son with new eyes more than once. Moreover, Tao Ying was only training a few hundred cavalrymen - not even the tip of the iceberg compared to the over 30,000 troops that Tao Qian had lost in the Battle of Xiapi. Even if he failed, it wouldn't be a big deal for Tao Qian, and it wouldn't cause him any significant loss. So Tao Qian didn't say much more, just nodded and said: "Alright, I'll believe you this once. You go to Wu County, and I hope you can fulfill your promise and create an invincible cavalry that wins every battle."

  ………

  And cheap old dad Tao Qian said a lot of nonsense, almost until the second watch, Tao Yingcai returned to the east gate outside the small school field beside the Junzi military camp, and also returned to the barracks. Because of the tiredness of moving the training base, Tao Yingcai remembered that he had caught a spy earlier, but the exhausted Tao Yingcai didn't have the energy to interrogate this unimportant spy overnight. He led several personal soldiers into his bedroom, and as soon as he saw the spy tied up in the corner, he waved his hand and ordered: "Too lazy to interrogate, drag him out, strip off his clothes, tie him to a wooden stake, and let the mosquitoes feed on him for a night first."

  "Yes." Li Ming and his personal soldiers responded with a fist, and then they dragged the thin man away. The thin man, whose mouth was covered, heard Tao Ying's words and was suddenly frightened out of his wits. He struggled desperately and shouted loudly, trying to attract Tao Ying's attention.

  "What's your name? If I hadn't thrown you into the Yellow River, you should have been grateful!" Tao Ying scolded in a bad mood. When he took another look at the sneaky appearance of the person, Tao Ying suddenly froze and then hastily ordered: "Stop, put him down!" It turned out that this sneaky follower was none other than Lin Qing, the first deserter from the Junzi Army!

  Incidentally, due to Tao Ying's brutal torture, the number of deserters from the Junzi Army has now risen to over twenty. However, none of the later deserters were as lucky as Lin Qing. The vast majority were caught and captured alive, with two even being beheaded. The rest were all sent to the Daxiangshan labor camp for hard labor, where they would not be able to leave for three to five years.

  He drove out the soldiers who were covered in dew, and Tao Ying personally helped Lin Qing up, then sat him down on his own bed. Only then did he pull out the rag from Lin Qing's mouth. As soon as Lin Qing's red lips were free, they immediately bit down on Tao Ying's wrist, sinking deep into the flesh until blood was drawn. Tao Ying let out a pained cry, "You little brat... you ungrateful little wretch! I spare your life and you repay me like this?"

  "Repaid kindness with enmity?" Lin Qing's teeth were clenched, and he spat out a mouthful of dirty blood. With a furious tone, he said: "You sent people to knock me unconscious, stuffed me into a sack and brought me here, and finally even took off my clothes... fed me to mosquitoes! What kindness have you shown me?"

  " Misunderstanding, all misunderstanding." Tao Ying rubbed the bleeding wound and smiled bitterly: "I found out you were following me, thinking you were a spy monitoring me, so I sent someone to catch you."

  " Bah! Following me is a despicable act, why don't you arrest everyone on the street? Lin Qing's small face turned red with anger, and she shouted in a shrill voice: "How dare you call yourself a gentleman, how dare you wave the banner of benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and sincerity? Bah! Hypocrite! Fool!"

  "It's really not that I'm being paranoid." Tao Ying said with a wry smile: "Lately, there have been sneaky people lurking around me every day, and you've been following me stealthily all day today, so I'm on high alert."

  Lin Qing naturally didn't understand the idiom "Grass and trees all become enemies" from Tao Ying's later generation, but struggled to scold: "Then you sent someone to catch me? And hit me unconscious, put me in a sack and brought me here? You're so ruthless, I'll definitely go to the government office to report you, let everyone in Xuzhou know your true face!"

  "Lin brothers, don't even mention it, I'm not afraid of you reporting me." Tao Yingxi said with a smile: "Lin brothers, have you forgotten? You also have an identity as a deserter from my legitimate Junzi Army! It's righteous for me to catch deserters from my own team, no matter where you report me, I'll be in the right."

  Lin Qing was stunned, only then remembering an important issue - he seemed to still be a fugitive soldier wanted by the Junzi Army! Tao Yingze, while appreciating Lin Qing's embarrassed and pitiful appearance, leaned in close to his face and said with a smile: "Accidentally hitting the mark, although we didn't catch the spy, but catching an escaped soldier means today wasn't a waste of effort after all."

  "What... what do you want?" Lin Qing subconsciously shrunk his body, trying to get as far away from Tao Ying as possible.

  "What do you want to do?" Tao Yingjian smiled and said: "On the second day after you escaped, I announced your punishment in front of all the gentlemen soldiers. After catching you, I will be beaten with a hundred military clubs. Military orders are like mountains, and I must bring you to the front of all the gentlemen soldiers and beat you with a hundred military clubs."

  "How dare you!" Lin Qing said, trembling with rage: "Do you know who my father is? You hit me, he will definitely not let you go!"

  "Who's your father?" Tao Ying most wanted to ask this question, deliberately provoking: "I don't believe it, in this Xuzhou city, apart from my father, who else can let me go?"

  "My dad is......" Lin Qing almost fell for it, but luckily changed his words in time and said: "I'm not telling you."

  "It can't be helped, I'll just have to use force then." Tao Ying laughed even more slyly and stretched out his demonic claws, wanting to touch Lin Qing's delicate face.

  "Get away from me, you stinker!" Lin Qing jumped in fright again and hastily retreated further back, only feeling safe after he had his back completely against the wall, avoiding Tao Ying's grasp.

  Lin Qing was pushed against the wall, and Tao Ying, with a sudden surge of lust, knelt on the bed, bringing his face close to Lin Qing's. Lin Qing trembled again, "You... what do you want to do? I'm a man, I don't have that kind of desire."

  "But I do." Tao Ying Yin smiled and leaned in closer, with a sly smile: "Deserter Lin Qing, you have two choices. The first is to be beaten with 100 military clubs by the Military Law Squad in front of all the gentlemen soldiers. The second choice is that I will personally execute the military law, use the club on my body, and beat you with 100 military clubs. Then you can leave."

  "With the stick on your body?" Lin Qing was stunned at first, then suddenly came to his senses. With a red face and his hands tied behind his back, Lin Qing raised his knee and viciously kicked towards the military stick that Tao Ying always carried with him, cursing: "Damn you, go die!"

  "Do you know what a military stick is?" Tao Ying, who had been guarding against Lin Qing's move, easily dodged and suddenly hugged Lin Qing tightly, heavily kissing her cherry lips. Lin Qing didn't expect Tao Ying to be so direct, and was caught off guard by the kiss, stunned into immobility...

  It's not Lin Qing's fault for reacting slowly. In the 21st century, Deputy Director Tao was even quicker in handling social interactions.

  Lin Qing was finally back to his senses after being held by Tao Ying for a long time, and with great difficulty, he pushed Tao Ying away. While spitting and flushing red, he scolded: "Damn pervert! You really have a fondness for men, I'm a man, how could you...!"

  "If you still insist that you are a man, then I will immediately strip your clothes off and check." Tao Ying smiled menacingly at Lin Qing.

  "What does that mean?" Lin Qing was stunned again, and it wasn't until after a while that she reacted from Tao Ying's sly smile, angrily saying: "You've known I'm a woman all along?"

  "Don't blame me, blame your terrible disguise. It's only because of that that you were able to deceive my third brother who is always fighting and killing." Tao Ying shrugged and replied: "As for me, I had already seen through it the first time we met."

  Lin Qing was thoroughly stunned, and after a long while, Lin Qing finally lifted his two legs that could barely move and kicked Tao Ying fiercely. While kicking, his face turned red with rage as he cursed, "Damn lecher! I originally found it strange, why did you have to make me your personal soldier, and also make me responsible for your food and lodging? It turns out that you, this damn lecher, had ill intentions from the start! Lecher! Shameless! Hypocrite!"

  "I'm not a hypocrite, I'm a real gentleman." Tao Ying explained while dodging Lin Qing's angry kicks: "The Book of Songs says: 'A gentle and virtuous girl, a gentleman is eager to pursue.' I am a true gentleman, so of course I want to keep you, this great beauty, by my side, for convenience... Ah, I say, Lin sister, why do you always kick me?"