Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 43 The War Is Not Forgotten (1)

The third day of July in the fourth year of Xuanhe is the day determined by Guo Zhenren of the Shenxiao Palace in Yuqing.Tong Guan selected [-] elites from the three yamen of the capital, and was named Zhenbei Army by the Shang Dynasty. He left Bianjing today and escorted Prince Wei Wang Zhao Ke to the camp in Hebei to reward the three armies.

Most of the soldiers of Zhenbei Army are from the Fourth Army of Iron Cavalry, Konghe, Longjie, and Hujie. There are also a very small number of imperial squads who are on duty. As usual, these elite forbidden troops have been guarding the capital all year round, and they have never taken turns to guard the Quartet like other forbidden troops .There are even government officials who choose tall women to match with the imperial guards in order to give birth to strong offspring who can defend the royal family from generation to generation.

The Fourth Army and the imperial squad often serve in the army for generations, and it is not uncommon for large families to live and reproduce in Bianliang. Therefore, when the Zhenbei Army went out to garrison Hebei today, the lineup of family members seeing off was much larger than usual.Crowds of people are surging, constantly pushing towards the marching team, one after another, there are old fathers and mothers with gray beard and hair, some wives with babies in their arms, and some ignorant half-year-old boys looking at their father in the procession silently. Without saying a word, a young woman with tears all over her face broke off a willow branch from the royal willow beside the road and stuck it on the lapel of her husband who was going to war.The Zhenbei army was held back by the 'tide' of people seeing them off, and they moved forward almost like a snail. It took a whole day to walk ten miles north from Fengqiu Gate.

"I used to go, Yangliu Yiyi, now I come back, rain and snow, the road is slow, thirsty and hungry, my heart is sad, I don't know I am sad."

Zhao Xingde murmured, put his hand into his bosom, pinched a sachet and took it out, on the sachet surface were embroidered two lines of words "Thinking of you is like a full moon, every night reduces the brilliance", in the sachet There is a concentric knot and a lock of hair, all gifted by Li Ruoxue.

On the sixth day of June, the official decree came, and Zhao Xingde, a scholar of Taixue, went to Hebei to announce the decree with Tong Guan, the emissary of the imperial edict. Confer an official position.For this inexplicable dispatch, even Song An, who is familiar with officialdom stories, could not guess the true meaning of the officialdom.

According to the military law at this time, on the day of receiving the military order to enlist, you should prepare your own luggage and go to the camp. After that, you are not allowed to go home to visit until you leave.Zhao Xingde had no choice but to bid farewell to his teachers and friends in Bianjing, pack up his luggage, pay the envoy Tong Guan to report first, and receive the report. Since then, he has been staying in the camp of the Zhenbei Army, and he is not allowed to leave the camp until he is ordered by the general.Only Chen Dong, Li Ruoxu and others visited the camp once. In addition to bringing some seasonal fruits and necessary things for a long trip, Li Ruoxu also brought this sachet on behalf of his sister.

At this moment, although Li Ruoxue could not come out to see him off due to the etiquette of the boudoir, Zhao Xingde still felt a little warmth.After rubbing the sachet for a while, he put it in his bosom carefully, looked around, covered his nose lightly, there was still a faint lingering fragrance.The originally smoldering mood suddenly became cheerful again, Zhao Xingde straightened the felt hat on his head, lightly whipped the horse, the healthy horse neighed in dissatisfaction, walked a few steps quickly, and then slowed down again.

Tong Guan, Hebei Xuanyu envoy, treated Zhao Xingde pretty well. Although he had no official position, he was still given three sets of various robes and uniforms according to the usual practice of joining the army from the eight ranks of the military, Lusu counting stones, tea, wine and kitchen materials, fuel charcoal, Some salt.Zhao Xingde had nowhere to store the cumbersome things such as millet, tea and wine, so he sent them to Chao and Li's family. In addition, because he was sent to Hebei Daying to announce the decree, he also issued iron swords, bows and arrows, and specially prepared them for him. A horse is assigned.

When he received this big Hexi horse, Zhao Xingde was surprised by its size and strength. This kind of strong military horse is rare among the common people. However, Zhao Xingde spends most of his time in Zhenbei Army camp these days wrestling with the horse that was assigned to him.Because there is no actual official position, he does not have a dedicated groom. Therefore, this supervisor who enjoys the treatment of the eighth grade can only feed and brush the horse by himself, and never even attend the meeting. Learning to ride horses little by little, that is, when he was running horses on the school grounds, Zhao Xingde met Han Shizhong again who had invited him to join the army.

"You are a scholar who doesn't understand the world, so you must have given the supervisor Tiansi no benefit, so you were given this uncastrated horse to make you suffer." At this time, Han Shizhong saw Zhao Xingde's first words, "However, this kind of Hexi horse is very vigorous to ride. If it is well-trained, it will be the most joyful in the battlefield." What he didn't know was that this Hexi horse has a particularly violent temperament, and ordinary people will kick and kick when they get close Biting, it just didn't prevent the supervisor and veterinarian of Tiansi Prison from doing the castration.

From then on, Zhao Xingde got up at night to feed the horse, combed the horse's mane every day, cleaned up the sundries on the horse's hooves, walked the horse, and talked to the big horse nervously. Under Han Shizhong's guidance, the horse Hexi Dama gradually accepted Zhao Xingde's control, but he was still listless every day, and seemed to disdain Zhao Xingde's gentle temperament.

"You can draw a three-stone hard bow, and your physical strength is pretty good. Unfortunately, the strength of your waist and legs is still too weak. Your buttocks are steadfastly sitting on a war horse like a bed. These two slender legs are slack on both sides. It doesn't have any strength at all, it's no wonder it can look up to you, a scholar." Han Shizhong continued to tease Zhao Xingde sarcastically, and then instructed him to stand on a horse post to exercise his waist, abdomen, thighs, and calves. Key to.

Zhao Xingde knew in his heart that he was grateful for the virtue of helping him at the beginning, so he didn't think about it, and honestly followed Han Shizhong's instructions every day to exercise his body. Fortunately, because of the prince's frame and a bunch of civil servants accompanying him, the speed of the Zhenbei Army's marching It's not fast, every day just as the red sun set to the west, he set up camp early to rest, so that Zhao Xingde still had time to rest.

"This horse is very human, and sometimes loses its temper. Maybe it's because it was bitten by a good mare the night before." Zhao Xingde recalled Han Shizhong's words thoughtfully, and raised the reins. Ma was still listless, "Maybe it's just the opposite." He thought maliciously.

Looking around, you can see that the Zhenbei Army marched in a very orderly manner. In the middle is a column of infantry, escorting the carriages of the crown prince and Tong Guan. He wears a light gray military robe, and only carries standard waist knives, bows and arrows. Armor, spears, crossbows, firecrackers and other heavy objects are all placed on the convoys on both sides of the infantry formation. Chariots, fire attack chariots, gun chariots, tiger chariots, scull chariots, etc., are either pulled by mules and horses, or pushed by peasants. The convoys are connected back and forth, as if two moving walls protect the infantry vertically. Once the two sides of the column are attacked by the enemy, they can immediately form an unbreakable vehicle formation.

Around the marching column, there were four battalions of cavalry.According to the general regulations of the military classics of this dynasty, the commanders of each battalion should send out scouts from time to time to spy on the enemy's situation within a hundred miles, so as to gather information about the enemy's opportunities first.However, because they have been marching in the hinterland of the Song Dynasty, how dare the "Mao" thieves come to "harass" the five thousand elites who are flying the Tianzilong Banner, and the commanders of each battalion will not be such villains who make trouble out of nothing.All the cavalry rode slowly near the infantry and convoy.Han Shizhong also commanded his third battalion of cavalry to march closely next to the convoy of the baggage convoy. One was easy to walk in the middle of the road, and the other was to have a good relationship with the baggage officer, which would be beneficial in the future.

"I heard that the land in Hebei is flat, and it is the best place for cavalry to gallop freely. This time, the court intends to clarify Hebei, and General Han has a lot of room for power." Although Zhao Xingde has no official position, Chen Dong and others who came to visit him still revealed to him. There are many rumors in the court, and they are much more well-informed than a rough old man like Han Shizhong.

"The imperial court clarified Hebei, what's wrong with the old Han?" Han Shizhong's eyes showed disgust, and in front of Zhao Xingde, who had read the poems and books of saints, he spoke even more unscrupulously, "This is what the officials eat. If we want to fight, we will bleed and fight to the death." He wandered intentionally or unintentionally over the windows and curtains of several vehicles in the convoy of the convoy, Zhao Xingde knew that one of them contained Li Hongyu donated by Gonglou, this time to reward the Hebei soldiers, There were 55 prostitutes accompanying the army. Fortunately, Tong Guan, the commander-in-chief of the army, was an eunuch and was incapable of personnel affairs.

Tong Xuan's emissary can't do personnel, and the other generals of the Zhenbei Army who have been imprisoned can't enjoy these military "prostitutes" at will, so as not to violate the taboo of adults.On the contrary, Han Shizhong was greatly relieved. While inquiring about Li Hongyu's news, he also made friends with capable officials. Hebei is no better than the capital, as long as capable people do things secretly, it is not difficult for military prostitutes to become good women.

Although Tong Guan's public identity is the envoy of Xuanyu, the news that the imperial court intends to change the commander of Hebei has already spread to the high-level Hebei camp.The Beijing Daming Mansion of this dynasty is the residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the Hebei Camp. The Jiedu Envoy of the Baoxin Army, the Deputy Commander of the Guard Ma Jun, and Liu Yanqing are all deployed in the Hebei Camp. He is looking gloomy at the kneeling troops Will.

"I've always treated you well, is this how you repay me?" Liu Yanqing has been in charge of Hebei for more than ten years, and all the generals under his command are simple-handed and among the soldiers. , No one dared to look up to the dozens of giants with helmets and crowns underground, and no one dared to argue a word.

"What remonstrance? What kind of petition in front of the crown prince? What do you mean by the court? Do you feel at ease if the old man dies?" Liu Yanqing's face was ashen, and when the news of the court's change of command came, he was originally a little bit I was disheartened, but after thinking about it, I have been a general for decades, and I have already set up countless fertile land and beautiful houses in the inland state capital. From the official to the Jiedu envoy, Cao Zhongwugong once said: "A good official only gets too much money. Er.” That’s exactly what it means.Retiring and returning to Beijing this time, although they are no longer as majestic as before, they are better at leisure and contentment. The Liu family will no longer violate the taboo of the king, and the next generation may reuse them.

Unexpectedly, when he woke up this morning, dozens of subordinates in full armor came to the courtyard outside his dormitory, saying that the court misunderstood the villain's slander, and the big guy was very angry. , Isn't this pushing Lao Liu into the fire pit?Thinking of this, Liu Yanqing's hands trembled uncontrollably, and he snorted heavily, and several generals such as Tian Shizhen, Shang Qiong, and Hu Sai'an who were kneeling on the ground cringed unconsciously.