Chapter 142: Family Ties Are Fragile
When Pang De arrived in Lantian, he heard that Black Bear had gone to Xinfeng.

Unable to bear the wait, Pang De led more than a hundred cavalrymen back to Xinfeng.

On the bank of the Wei River, Zhong Yao’s headquarters camp was still under construction.

The manpower he recruited from all over was being used to expand the original dock in an orderly manner, and the military camp was also being built, as if it were going to be stationed here during the winter.

Food was also transported here in a steady stream, including fodder for war horses.

The entire camp was built around the hay field, with the central infantry battalion and three cavalry battalions guarding the hay field in an arc shape.

When Pound arrived, Black Bear was selecting his knights.

The two centuries of knights in his Central Camp could finally be expanded. If there was a sizable knight force, the rout could be turned into a pursuit and annihilation war.

We don't ask them to defeat the enemy head-on, but just block the scouts and hunt down the defeated soldiers.

Black Bear’s requirements are very low, so the first condition for selecting knights this time is voluntary participation.

No matter what kind of person they are, as long as they bring their own horses and are willing to join the Tiger Tooth Army, they will be incorporated into the newly established Eagle Strike Knight Battalion. After completing training, they will be transferred to the Central Base Camp.

The reorganization of the troops was completed around noon, and only more than 800 knights were willing to join the Tiger Fang Army.

Just like the reorganized Qingzhou soldiers and the 5,000 Guanzhong infantry, they were divided into teams of 100 men, given a flag, and allowed to elect their own 100-man supervisor, team officer, and squad leaders.

After the nomination is completed, the name and hometown are written on the flag, and finally a literate military officer copies the list in triplicate.

One copy was kept in the Centurion Team, one copy was sent to General Huya's Mansion, and one copy was kept in the Sili Xiaowei's office.

This was a complicated clerical task, and Black Bear just stood by and let the military officers carry out the reorganization work.

While he was discussing with Zhong Yao the excavation of Cai Yong's collection of books, his personal soldiers came to report and delivered Pang De's official document.

Zhong Yao was very interested in digging out Cai Yong's collection of books, which were hidden by Wang Can and his men in the past. Since Wang Can did not come, Zhong Yao could only worry.

Wei Duan, the governor of Liangzhou, was also obsessed with calligraphy. If Cai Yong's collection of books could be dug out, just the calligraphy and silk manuscripts by Cai Yong himself in them would be enough to win Wei Duan over.

Zhong Yao was very confident about this.

Words are sacred. In the eyes of those obsessed with them, words can communicate with ghosts and gods.

For Zhong Yao, flipping through the works of other famous calligraphers, he could even feel the changes in the mentality and spirit of his predecessors when they wrote between the lines.

When Zhong Yao saw that Ma Teng had sent someone to visit Hei Xiong, the two of them parted ways, and Hei Xiong stayed on the chariot waiting for Pang De.

Zhong Yao hurriedly went to find his confidant and prepared to send him to meet Wang Can.

At the same time, he did not forget to send someone on horseback to Zhang's Manor in Huayin to inform his good friend Zhang Chang, hoping that Zhang Chang could participate in this precious excavation opportunity.

On the other side, Pound came to see Black Bear panting.

This man seems to be a little taller than Zhao Yun, but his body is just as broad and he is three points taller and stronger than Gan Ning.

Although he looks majestic and powerful, he is wearing a set of iron armor that has been repeatedly repaired and rewoven. The armor plates have different traces of new and old, and even the cowhide ropes used to weave the armor plates have obvious differences.

At first glance, you can tell that this is a set of armor that has survived hundreds of battles, and it may be made up of materials from more than a dozen sets of armor.

"I am here to pay my respects to the General on orders from the General of the Northern Expedition."

Pang De saluted and presented the brocade bag with both hands: "General, you proposed it the other day. My lord was very happy. He ordered the minister to send the letter here. Please review it."

The personal guard took the brocade bag and handed it to the chariot.

Only then did Pound take a look at the black bear. It did not have the legendary mask, but was a handsome young man with fair skin.

He had also heard about the appearance of the black bear and didn't find it strange.

The person who could bring the Qingzhou soldiers back to life and gather a highly cohesive army so quickly must be either a black bear with white hair and a childlike face with an immortal demeanor, or a young immortal.

Taoists are generally fascinated by the miraculous stories that happen to the elderly, children, and women.

If the appearance and temperament are outstanding and flawless, the effect will be even more outstanding.

It seems that these make it easier to interact with mysterious beings and can guide ordinary people.

Black Bear concentrated on reading Ma Teng's reply of four or five hundred words. Ma Teng's wording was a bit restrained, and he actually agreed to his previous proposal.

Unexpectedly, Ma Teng wanted to take his family with him and would not leave his son in Guanzhong to lead any of his old subordinates. Instead, he wanted to divide his old subordinates into five parts.

The first part was willing to follow Ma Teng and his family to Jingzhou. Most of them were old friends from Liangzhou, including relatives of Ma Teng’s wives and concubines. They were Ma Teng’s founding members and backbone forces.

Without this group of people, Ma Teng's old subordinates in Liangzhou were dispersed.

The second part is to be given to Ma Chao, and let the troops make their own choice. Those who are willing to follow Ma Chao can go.

But how many people are willing to betray the collective and even abandon their families?
How many people can follow Ma Chao and start a business with their family?

Therefore, this group of people should be the most unstable ones in Ma Teng's army, and they should be cleared out.

Although the number is small, if it is kept, it will become a hidden danger sooner or later.

The third part is the dowry for the current eldest daughter, who also came from Ma Teng’s old subordinates in Liangzhou, mainly Qiang Hu and Qin Hu. They are a cavalry-based force good at horse herding, and there are more than 500 households and their horses as dowry.

The eldest daughter is currently fourteen years old. If Black Bear is willing, Ma Teng will gather this Qiang Hu tribe and send someone to Lantian first.

The fourth part is the Liangzhou tribe and the Guanzhong tribe. Those tribes that do not want to be disbanded will be handed over to Pang De.

The fifth part is about the troops who are unwilling to continue fighting. Ma Teng will release them, whether they are from Liangzhou or Guanzhong, he will set them free, hoping that Black Bear can take care of these people in the future.

Black Bear read it three times in a row, but still found it hard to believe. He suspected that this was Ma Teng's scheme, and that he sent Pang De, a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes and a loyal appearance, to deliver the letter just to paralyze himself.

Either they trick me into coming over, set an ambush, surround and capture me; or they let me relax, and then the elite knights hide during the day and come out at night to launch a sneak attack.

Just like when Duan Wei destroyed Li Jue, before Li Jue could react, his mansion was surrounded and then he was wiped out, leaving no one alive.

Looking at Pound again, he saw that he was suppressing his joy.

Perhaps everything that Pang De saw was true, and Ma Teng did not lie to him. Pang De knew that he would soar to the sky and become the guardian of the eldest lady.

It is also possible that Ma Teng deceived him as well.

There is really no way. If you are in the black bear's current position, you will have an extra layer of suspicion when you see any behavior.

How many heroes have ruined their great careers because of carelessness and naive trust in others.

Often, not only will the person die, but his clan and relatives will also be implicated. People have been obsessed with eradicating the roots of a crime since ancient times.

After thinking it over again and again, Black Bear took out a piece of bamboo paper from the wooden box of the chariot, and a goose feather pen appeared in his hand when he took the paper.

I picked up the pen and wrote my reply on the paper, still in simplified Chinese.

There is not much difference between common daily words being simplified or not.

He wrote quickly, dipping the brush in ink five times before he wrote more than a hundred words.

He put down the goose feather pen, took out his silver seal of General Tiger Tooth and gold seal of General Zhenbei and stamped them together.

He folded the paper and handed it to his personal soldier, indicating that he should pass it on. He said to Pang De: "I understand Zhengbei's intention. Now there are only two things left to do. The first is that you go back and protect Zhengbei's safety. The second is that I will have an alliance with Zhengbei and discuss it in person. I have already explained this matter in the letter. It depends on Zhengbei's mind."

Black Bear couldn't help but smile as he said this: "This is a win-win situation for both sides. If we start a war, it will only hurt us. I'm not in a hurry, I just hope Zhengbei will consider it carefully. If you have any doubts, we can discuss it again. If Zhengbei feels that the time and place of the alliance are not appropriate, he can change it."

Looking at Pang De, Black Bear turned his head to look at the other soldiers: "Bring me my armor."

Several bodyguards were stunned and looked at Pang De.

Although Pound is very tall and strong, the armor itself has a redundant design, so he can naturally wear it.

To his personal soldiers, Pang De's armor, which was pieced together from various places, showed that he was not a famous general.

Pound also guessed it and his face flushed immediately.

Black Bear stared at several personal soldiers. These personal soldiers who were responsible for the maintenance and carrying of armor could not bear it and said in no particular order: "Yes."

Soon these men brought a box from another chariot and placed it in front of Pound as Black Bear pointed.

Pang De was stunned, and Black Bear said, "I know what Zhengbei wants, so I'll give you this set of armor. I'm generous to you, so how can I be stingy to the future Zhengbei clan?"

"Yes, I understand."

Pang De saluted, which was a reward for showing sincerity.

Pang De then took off his armor. The personal soldier who brought the armor saw Black Bear's gaze and took the initiative to step forward to help Pang De take off his armor.

Only then did they realize that Pang De's armor was just pieced together from various pieces. Under his iron armor, there was also a set of close-fitting silver-gilt chain mail.

The chain mail is a complex craft, and the silver treatment is to prevent rust.

This is a type of armor and manufacturing technique that came from the Western Regions trade route. Only middle and senior officers have enough funds to buy chain mail for themselves.

These soldiers didn't expect that Pang De only saw the tattered armor, but there was such high-end stuff inside.

No matter how it came about, it shows that Pound is very powerful.

On a daily basis, military officers do not participate in training or armed duty, so they are unwilling to wear armor, which is very inconvenient to wear.

Only when facing a war would military officers wear as many clothes as possible, and the more clothes under the armor, the better.

Wearing a set of chain mail under the iron armor like Pang De is a perfect match for battle.

As for the outer layer of iron armor, the only things that are difficult to defend against are close-range shooting from powerful crossbows, or collisions with other weapons while riding a horse at a gallop.

In daily armed conflicts, lamellar armor is sufficient and chain mail is redundant.

But if he really put on the chain mail, Pang De could basically ignore the harassment from bows and crossbows.

Black Bear also saw the chain mail and frowned, thinking that Pound had to bring more than a hundred knights to deliver the letter.

He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. If Ma Teng really wanted to cooperate with him, who was Pang De guarding against?
It can't be Han Sui or Yan Xing, right?

That’s right, no matter how arrogant Ma Chao was, he wouldn’t dare to attack Ma Teng, but it’s hard to say about others.

When Ma Chao disappeared before, Black Bear felt that this guy would not leave Guanzhong easily.

In both secret discussions, Ma Chao wanted to seize military power; but after the two secret discussions and negotiations, the external situation changed drastically, and as a result, Ma Chao got nothing.

The key to the problem lies in the fact that the Huya Army has a strong force, which has changed the situation and forced Zhong Yao to join with 8,000 people.

Therefore, Ma Chao must have been very distressed during this period. If he had three to five hundred troops and decisively turned against Zhong Yao, he would have been able to mobilize at least two to three thousand soldiers.

Ma Chao would take his anger out on himself for the regret of missing several opportunities. Could it be that he didn't have any resentment towards Ma Teng at all?

Ma Teng divided his family and gave some of his troops to Ma Chao. This was probably the last bit of friendship between father and son.

(End of this chapter)