Recruiting Personal Guards

"This..." Ma Cai revealed a smile but was unwilling to say anything more.

If Chen Mo helped him this time, he would naturally tell him about it. If he did not, Ma Cai would not reveal it for no reason.

"You two go get the silver. I'll go tell Master He about this." After thinking it over briefly, Chen Mo nodded in agreement.

He was quite interested in that good opportunity. Ma Cai's family had some connections, so the opportunity he spoke of should not be fake.

"We prepared it long ago. All the money we've made during this time is here." Ma Cai hurriedly pulled a heavy gray-black cloth bundle from his clothes. Anyone could tell that it contained quite a few copper coins.

Chen Mo took the bundle, then picked up the Lotus Leaf Chicken before rising and heading for the barracks where He Ma Guan lived.

Ma Cai and Ding Bao followed closely behind him, step for step.

The barracks where He Ma Guan lived were relatively more spacious, with more complete furnishings and arrangements inside.

He was sitting in a reclining chair, taking the occasional drag from his dry tobacco pipe.

When he saw Chen Mo carrying the Lotus Leaf Chicken over, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"What, boy? Are you treating me to chicken today?"

"No. This chicken was bought by Ding Bao and Ma Cai to show their respect for you, old man." Chen Mo picked up a rag and wiped the table, then untied the chicken and set it on the table.

He Ma Guan's expression changed. His gaze turned toward the door. "When there's no reason for someone to show you kindness, there's either treachery or theft!"

Chen Mo raised his brows, and inwardly formed a rough guess.

"Old man, you knew they were secretly selling horse manure behind your back?"

He Ma Guan snorted, tore off a chicken leg, and looked toward the door. "They could hide it from me for a day or two, but could they hide it from me for a month or two?"

He had muddled through the military for decades. What trickery had he not seen?

He had noticed something was wrong several days ago. The reason he had sent Chen Mo to shovel manure was to see whether he knew about it, and whether he would join them in hiding it from him after finding out.

If the three of them had truly joined forces to deceive him, then even if replacing all three at once was troublesome, he would still have to do it.

Outside the door, Ma Cai and Ding Bao's faces had gone pale, and their bodies trembled like sieves. They could not help feeling a burst of relief.

Thankfully, they had listened to Chen Mo's advice and voluntarily confessed everything to He Ma Guan.

Otherwise, the only thing awaiting them would have been military punishment.

"Don't be too angry, old man. They already know they were wrong, and all the money they made during this time is here." Chen Mo took the money pouch and handed it to He Ma Guan.

He weighed it in his hand, and the anger on his face immediately lessened by thirty or forty percent.

He was not angry that the two had secretly sold horse manure. He was angry that they had kept hiding it from him and had not shared the money with him.

Their eyes had not contained even the slightest regard for him, their Ma Guan!

"They didn't do this deliberately either. Don't be too angry, old man. You'll hurt yourself if you keep getting worked up." Chen Mo hurriedly tried to console him.

"Get in here, both of you!" He Ma Guan roared toward the door.

Ma Cai and Ding Bao moved into the room timidly, heads lowered.

"Today, for Chen Mo's sake in pleading for you two, I won't pursue your mistake any further!" He Ma Guan's expression was stern.

In truth, he did not want to make too big a matter of it. If others learned that something like this had happened in the stables under his charge, he would lose face as well.

He had already thought about it earlier. If all three of them had concealed it from him, he could only replace them all.

If only the two of them had hidden it from him, then giving them a hard beating and watching their future conduct would have been enough. There was no need to make too much trouble.

Now that the two had voluntarily handed over all the money they had pocketed, he could still let them off this once.

"Thank you, Master He!" The two were covered in sweat, and their hearts finally relaxed.

He Ma Guan said nothing more, but his gaze toward Ding Bao remained filled with annoyance and disappointment.

It would have been one thing if Ma Cai had hidden it from him. But Ding Bao had followed him for more than two years and had actually concealed it from him together with outsiders. That was what angered him most!

"From now on, both of you had better behave yourselves. Don't entertain thoughts you shouldn't!" he scolded in a low voice.

The two naturally nodded again and again, not daring to utter a word.

"If anything like this happens again, I'll take half the money, and the remaining half will be divided among the three of you." He Ma Guan had no intention of letting the matter end there.

Although he held some standing in the camp, military pay was issued sporadically, if at all. Having some extra income was naturally better.

Ding Bao's expression brightened. He had originally thought that since Master He had already known about this in advance, they would probably never be able to make money from it again.

Now, it seemed there was still hope. Though they would be able to skim less, that was still better than getting nothing.

Not to mention, with He Ma Guan involved, the matter would be much safer.

"That's enough. All of you, get lost." He Ma Guan waved his hand.

Ma Cai and Ding Bao looked as if they had received a royal pardon. Their steps were small, but their pace was remarkably quick.

Chen Mo rose to leave as well, but He Ma Guan reached out and stopped him.

"As for secretly selling the manure, keep an eye on things from now on, especially that Ma Cai. Don't let him cause any more trouble. His family has some connections, and sooner or later he'll be transferred away. You'll still have to stay here and feed horses with me." He Ma Guan's tone softened slightly as he gave his instructions.

"Understood." Chen Mo naturally knew that even the slightest connection was still a connection. Ma Cai would not have to endure hardship here for long like these ordinary soldiers.

At present, he only wanted to steadily accumulate qi and blood. He was unwilling to provoke any other trouble either.

"Take this chicken back and eat it. Keep this money hidden as well." He Ma Guan carefully counted more than a hundred copper coins from the cloth bundle and handed them to Chen Mo.

"Thank you!" Chen Mo did not refuse. He carefully tucked the money into his clothes and carried the chicken back to his camp.

Ma Cai was lying on the bed, resting while his whole body reeked. Chen Mo had long grown used to the smell in the surrounding air. He tore off a thick, meaty chicken leg and began eating heartily.

"Mo-ge is back." When Ma Cai saw him return, he hurriedly sat up in bed.

"Master He even let you bring the chicken back!" As he said this, he could not help swallowing.

Grooms received much better treatment than ordinary soldiers, but they rarely got to eat meat either. On ordinary days, at most they would sneak two eggs.

"Let's eat together. You can tell me about that good opportunity of yours while we do." Chen Mo greeted him warmly and tore off a chicken wing to hand him.

"You know General Sun Shouren?" Ma Cai leaned closer and lowered his voice.

Chen Mo gently shook his head. He had been here for too short a time. He had not even fully figured out the situation in the military camp yet.

"In another month or two, General Sun will come here to recruit personal guards." His expression was solemn, clearly believing that what he said was true.

"Is that really true? I've never heard of a general recruiting personal guards from a military camp."

Chen Mo's tone held a hint of disbelief as he tried to draw more information out of Ma Cai.

Personal guards, also called retinues, were the most important troops a general could have.

Many times, whether a battle could be won depended on whether the general's personal guards were numerous and strong enough.

And the most important thing about personal guards was that they had to be close to the general.

Generally speaking, they were either members of the same clan or fellow townsmen, with some sort of kinship to the general himself.

As for directly recruiting personal guards from a military camp, few generals did such a thing.

"You don't know about this, do you? As far as I know, General Sun won a great victory some time ago, but too many of his personal guards were lost. So he requested that His Majesty send him back to garrison and train troops in our Xingyuan Prefecture.

"General Sun is also from our Xingyuan Prefecture, which is why he's selecting personal guards from here." Ma Cai leaned very close to Chen Mo and lowered his voice even further.

There were only so many able-bodied men from the same clan or hometown. If too many were lost at once, it was very difficult to replenish their numbers.

If they wanted to recruit personal guards again, they could only broaden the scope of recruitment, then spend more time training them.

"Since this matter is so important, how did you find out about it?" Chen Mo showed a trace of doubt.

Troop transfers and appointments of generals could all be considered court secrets. How could Ma Cai have learned such confidential information so easily?

"I have a distant female cousin who married one of General Sun's personal guards. The imperial court sent her compensation some time ago. After my family made repeated inquiries, we finally learned about this. You absolutely mustn't tell anyone else."

The reason Ma Cai had told Chen Mo about this, rather than anyone else, was that he had his own private motives.

Being able to read and write, even if only a few characters, was rare among a group of ordinary soldiers.

With his literacy, Chen Mo might be selected for the Guard Camp. If that happened, the two of them could stick together, which would be better than Ma Cai entering alone.

Even if Chen Mo failed to be selected as a personal guard, with his literacy, it was unlikely that he would remain stuck at the bottom forever.

Building a good relationship with him might help Ma Cai in the future. And all he had to give up was news that sooner or later others would learn anyway. It was certainly a deal where he could only profit.

Chen Mo silently memorized the matter. If he could truly become a personal guard, not only would his treatment improve and allow him to accumulate qi and blood more effectively, but his status and position would rise as well.

By then, he could consider how to redeem Zhao Yu's contract. Chen Mo had always remembered this matter.

If she had not given him the money for her sale, it was still unknown whether he would be alive now.

He had promised her back then that he would help redeem her. Since he had made that promise, he absolutely had to fulfill it.