In fact, according to reason, the position of general of the Tabai Army should belong to Wu Langjiang, Wu Shengliu.
He was born in a poor family, the sixth child in the family, and joined the army because he could not get enough food. In the years in the army, he has always been famous for his bravery, never lost in the military competition, and led the troops to fight without hesitation. Before he was 30, he was promoted to the position of Langjiang, and he was about to lead an army, fulfilling his long-cherished wish.
Who would have thought that a noble son of Nandu would suddenly appear, and before he was twenty, he would be ranked as a general. When General Xu of the Tabai Army died in battle, he entrusted the Tabai Army to this young man in front of tens of thousands of soldiers. Wu Shengliu thought that it must be the pressure from Duan Xu's prominent family that made General Xu act against his will.
He had endured it when facing a powerful enemy, but now that Liangzhou had been recovered, he had no good face for Duan Xu and only hoped that he would return to Nandu as soon as possible. After all, the swords and knives flying across the border were not something that a tender-skinned nobleman could endure.
At this moment, Wu Shengliu was standing in the courtyard of the prefectural governor's mansion. Meng Wan invited him to sit down, but he refused. He crossed his arms and said impatiently with a stern face, "I still have to go back to train the troops. If you have anything to say, please speak up!"
Duan Xu walked into the yard in a friendly manner with a handsome smile on his face, and Captain Han, who was guarding the city, also walked in behind him.
"General Wu has been busy training soldiers these days, you must have worked hard." Duan Xu patted Wu Shengliu's shoulder as if he didn't see his ugly face. He was half a head taller than Wu Shengliu, and he was more imposing than Wu Shengliu.
Wu Shengliu felt even more suffocated.
Duan Xu ignored Wu Shengliu standing in the yard and sat down, picked up the teacup on the table and said with a smile: "Captain Meng, Captain Xia, Captain Han and General Wu are all here. To put it bluntly, my people and General Wu's people are here. Now that the army is a little stable, I want to promote a captain to be a general."
Wu Shengliu put down his arm and looked at Meng Wan and Xia Qingsheng with an unhappy expression: "Who do you want to mention, General? Xia Qingsheng?"
"Hmm. What do you think, General?"
Wu Sheng was furious. Did Duan Shunxi really think that Tabai was his Tabai? It had only been a short time since he recovered Liangzhou, and he was already in a hurry to place his own people in the army
He slapped the table, and the teacups on the table jumped up. He said angrily, "How many battles has Xia Qingsheng fought in Tabai?"
"In four battles, we killed more than ten thousand enemies with three thousand cavalrymen. Even though the soldiers died, none of them retreated." Duan Xu replied.
The Daliang army had not fought a major battle for many years, and the military discipline was lax. They often fled when resisting the Danzhi army, and the early Tabai army was no exception. After Duan Xu took over the Tabai army, the military law was extremely strict. Anyone who avoided fighting and retreated would be killed without mercy. More than a thousand soldiers died under military law. Some time ago, the soldiers who supervised the allocation of graves and accepted bribes were all punished by him with forty strokes of the cane.
This statement really hit Wu Shengliu in the face. He said loudly, "You gave him all the best soldiers, and all the battles he fought were with you..."
He realized that if he continued, he would have to praise Duan Xu. After all, it was Duan Xu who made the first contribution to Tabai's recapture of Liangzhou. Wu Shengliu stopped talking and raised his chin and said, "I don't accept it. My brother Han has made great achievements in the army for three years. To be honest, General Duan, your position as Langjiang should have belonged to brother Han. Now that you have been promoted to general, you want to promote someone else to be Langjiang. I don't accept it!"
Duan Xu turned to look at Captain Han. This tall, quiet, scarred man stood in the wind. He was only about twenty years old, but he was as calm as a black stone. He smiled and said, "Han Lingqiu, are you convinced?"
Captain Han seemed to have not expected to be called out. He clasped his fists and saluted. He was neither convinced nor dissatisfied. He lowered his eyes and said, "Ling Qiuquan will listen to the two adults."
Duan Xu stared at him for a while, then turned to look at the wide courtyard. In the dead of winter, the trees were bleak and sparsely scattered around the edge of the courtyard, making the spacious courtyard look even larger. The ground of the courtyard was paved with blue bricks, and there were weapon racks on both sides. The governor of Liangzhou was also a martial arts lover when he was alive.
"I heard that General Wu Lang is keen on fighting and has never lost. Would you like to fight with me?" Duan Xu stood up, raised his arms to stretch his muscles, and looked at Wu Shengliu with a smile: "If I win, I will recommend the person I recommend. If you win, you will recommend the person you recommend. How about it?"
Wu Shengliu felt that this bet was just what he wanted. He laughed and said, "A man's words are as good as his words. General, please don't break your promise."
He was extremely strong and well-known in the Tabai Army for his martial arts skills. From the previous battles, it seemed that Duan Xu knew some martial arts, but the nobles' skills were just fancy moves.
Wu Shengliu took his weapon, a long sword, held his head high and walked into the center of the courtyard first.
Shen Ying, who was sitting on the roof of the prefectural mansion compound, watched this scene and couldn't help but worry.
"Why did General Brother want to fight with that uncle? That uncle is much stronger than General Brother, and he looks fierce too. He looks like a good fighter, so Brother is bound to lose!"
He wore the veil that Duan Xu had given them that day, and the black veil covered most of his body. He Simu sat beside him, and there was a plate of melon seeds on the roof between them. The two of them leaned crookedly on the roof of the prefectural mansion, eating melon seeds while watching the show.
He Simu cast a spell on the veil, and the person wearing it would be invisible and could not be seen by ordinary people. She herself had a hundred ways to become invisible. Although she and Chen Ying were sitting on the roof at this time, no one in the courtyard could see them.
She told Shen Ying that this was also a trick, and Shen Ying, a gullible child, believed it without a doubt.
"Then General Wu Lang is going to lose." He Simu said leisurely while cracking melon seeds.
Chen Ying turned around in confusion and asked, "Why? General Wu Lang looks stronger."
"He has an ugly skull."
"… skull?"
"Yes, I tell you, Chen Ying, you have to judge a person by his skull. Look at this man, his back of the head is flat, his forehead is also flat, and his skull is not high. It is far inferior to Duan Xu's skull."
"What does a good-looking skull have to do with martial arts?" Shen Ying looked confused.
He Simu smiled and waved, and Chen Ying came over obediently. She whispered mysteriously to Chen Ying, saying nonsense: "People with beautiful skulls have a tough life."
Shen Ying nodded in confusion: “So that’s how it is.”
"General Wu, please give me some advice." Duan Xu stood in the yard and saluted Wu Shengliu with ease.
Wu Shengliu returned the greeting perfunctorily, then raised his long sword, took a stance, and glared with eyes wide open, like a tiger about to hunt.
Duan Xu stood straight in the same place, holding the Sword of Delusion in his hand, but he did not draw the sword from its sheath.
"Draw your sword!"
"When it's time to draw my sword, I will naturally draw my sword."
"Then I won't be polite!" Before Wu Shengliu finished speaking, he raised his knife and came towards Duan Xu. With the force of thunder, he shouted angrily: "Watch out for the knife!"
Duan Xu remained motionless until Wu Shengliu was only one step away from him, then he took a half step back with his right foot.
He Simu narrowed his eyes.
The wind around Duan Xu changed subtly. The sparsely entangled spider-like wind was twisted for a moment. It was only a matter of a moment. Duan Xu took this half step back and quickly moved away. He dodged Wu Shengliu's knife at an incredible speed, and turned around with his clothes flying behind Wu Shengliu.
He raised his knee and hit the opponent's waist hard. Wu Shengliu leaned back subconsciously. Duan Xu raised his hand and held the sword over the opponent's neck. With his other hand, he grasped the tail of the sword and pulled it back with force.
The throat was locked cleanly and quickly, the movement burst out in an instant and stopped in an instant, so fast that it seemed like an afterimage.
The long knife in Wu Shengliu's hand fell to the ground with a clang.
If the sword was unsheathed at this moment, what fell to the ground would not be the sword, but Wu Shengliu's head.
After a moment of silence, Duan Xu let go of Wu Shengliu, who covered his neck and began to cough violently.
"Thank you." Duan Xu clasped his fists and said with a smile. His breathing was steady, and that one-hit-kill move did not cost him any energy.
He Simu had the melon seeds in his mouth and just remembered to bite them.
Chen Ying stood up in shock and almost fell down. He Simu stretched out his hand to hold him back, his eyes only on Duan Xu in the yard.
Shen Ying staggered to his feet, rubbed his eyes, rubbed his eyes again, and said in disbelief: "What just happened? I... didn't see anything clearly, and Brother General won?"
It is indeed difficult for mortal eyes to see clearly.
He Simu smiled nonchalantly and said, "What happened? What just happened was like a six-year-old child coming at you with his teeth bared and claws bared, and being slapped to the ground by a grown man."
The gap between Wu Shengliu and Duan Xu is too big. The gap is not in the strength that Wu Shengliu is proud of, but in reaction, speed and strategy.
And experience.
This young general must have killed many people.
The number of people killed is much greater than that of Wu Shengliu.
Wu Shengliu was also in disbelief at this moment. He sat on the ground, holding his neck and breathing heavily. Stars appeared in his eyes and he looked slowly at Duan Xu, who should have been delicate and graceful, and said with difficulty: "You... How could it be possible..."
"General Wu Lang thinks that the noble children from the Southern Capital are all just idling around. General Wu Lang has a good opinion. There are quite a few idling around here, but..." Duan Xu bent down, pulled Wu Shengliu up from the ground, and said with a smile, "I am not."
When Wu Shengliu stood firmly on the ground, he looked at Duan Xu with a different look. Although he still held on to a hint of dissatisfaction, he also showed a little more curiosity.
Duan Xu put the Delusion-Breaking Sword back to his waist and said, "I know that General Lang has always been dissatisfied with me, but you never made things difficult for me on the battlefield before because you knew the pros and cons and understood the greater good when facing a powerful enemy. You were dissatisfied with my strict discipline because you care about the soldiers and think I was too strict. But General Wu, you also know the huge gap between us and the elite of Danzhi. If we don't enforce strict discipline, we will die faster."
Wu Shengliu's face turned red and white. He was silent for a moment and said through gritted teeth, "I won, so why are you talking so much? I lost. I hope General Xia Lang will give me more advice in the future."
He gave Xia Qingsheng a cursory salute, rubbing his neck and saying, "I have no objection to the general announcing this matter at any time, and I will support General Xia Lang. If there is nothing else, I will take my leave."
This was the most polite thing Duan Xu had said since he came in. After all, he called himself a junior general.
Han Lingqiu glanced at Duan Xu for a few seconds, then followed Wu Shengliu and said goodbye, holding his sword.
Duan Xu crossed his arms and watched the two men leave, and said with emotion: "General Wu Lang is a man of true character, but with his temper and style, if he arrives in Nandu, I'm afraid he will be eaten to the bone."
The sun was shining brightly, and the afternoon sun was bright and gentle. Shen Ying looked at Duan Xu, who was smiling brightly in the sun, and whispered, "General brother is so awesome."
He Simu held his chin and smiled, "Not only a good skull, but also a good body of bones, wonderful."
Shen Ying then touched his head and asked He Simu eagerly: "Little sister, where is my skull? Is my skull okay?"
He Simu smiled, she tapped Shen Ying's forehead and said, "His forehead is full, he is a promising child."
Meng Wan suddenly asked curiously from under the eaves: "Are melon seed shells falling from the sky?"
He Simu smiled, picked up Shen Ying and ran away silently.