After hearing this, Li Yan lowered his head and began to think as the carriage moved forward. After a while, he looked at Li Yu and Li Shan who looked worried.
"It's nothing. If it's really like what Uncle Guo Xin said, and we have stopped the enemy soldiers several times, even if there are battles later, they shouldn't be big ones for now.
After the previous sieges, they had failed to capture the county town, and with so many casualties, the enemy soldiers must have been wary of Marshal Hong.
Ding also knew that unless the main general here was changed, there might be a chance to attack, or if there was a natural disaster or something like that, they could take advantage of the opportunity to break in.
But I think Marshal Hong and his advisers have already thought of this kind of thing. They are all experienced in the battlefield, so they should not easily send a large army to attack again. "
Hearing this, Li Guoxin couldn't help but look at Li Yan in surprise.
These things are indeed as Li Yan said. In the past year or so, Meng State has not sent a large army to Qingshan Pass again. Only occasionally there are small groups of cavalry harassment and attacks.
"How did you come up with such an idea?"
Li Guoxin couldn't help but ask in surprise.
"Uncle Guo Xin, this is similar to when we go into the mountains to hunt, like when we were besieged by a pack of wolves, and every time you bravely stood in front of them and led everyone to fend off their attacks.
After killing more wolf cubs, the wolves in the pack will start to become afraid and will retreat on their own. Of course, they are afraid of you, Uncle Guo Xin.
Unless there is a problem with our defense from the inside, there will be no accidents!"
After hearing this, Li Guoxin couldn't help but stretch out his hand, pat the shaft of the cart and laughed.
"What you said is true. It's almost the same as killing a wild beast! Hahaha..."
"My little brother, what you said is absolutely right. Our Marshal Hong and Advisor Ji are both powerful generals and talented people of the time.
Those thieves from the Meng State had been scared out of their wits after they had launched four or five large-scale attacks but failed and even had the deputy commander of the other side taken by the Third Army Division.
Now we often send troops to attack them, and we really make these enemy bandits suffer."
At this moment, a voice suddenly came from the front.
It turned out that they had unknowingly arrived at the city gate. A dozen soldiers in armor were standing on both sides of the gate, and there was a man standing in the middle of the road ahead.
He was wearing a sword on his waist and a suit of armor, but there was a red cherry on the top of his helmet, which made him look different from the others.
The man was of medium build, with a dark face and no beard. His nose was high but a little hooked, and he was looking at them with eyes as sharp as lightning.
He was standing between two rows of soldiers, blocking the entrance to the city gate. I guess he should be the leader of the team.
This was the person who spoke just now. At this moment, he was looking at Li Yan with some surprise in his eyes.
After all, Li Yan looked only sixteen or seventeen years old and was dressed in coarse cloth, but he was not a rich and powerful young man. If he was one of those young masters, he would not find it strange.
After all, for people of these backgrounds, their elders in their families often talk about these events, so it is not uncommon for them to imitate them after hearing them.
Today, they are on duty to guard the north gate, and the people who come are generally villagers from the area under their jurisdiction or merchants from the dynasty.
Those young masters in the court will not come here to play in recent years. After all, some accidents are bound to happen.
Looking at Li Yan's attire, he would not think that he was some young master from the imperial court who came here to visit incognito. He felt somewhat interested that a country boy could have such insights.
When Li Yan saw the other party looking at him, he immediately jumped off the carriage and bowed.
"I just said something rude, please forgive me, sir."
These matters of etiquette were taught to them by the old scholar in the village.
Everyone in the village knows each other and they are all farmers, so there are still a lot of vulgar words between them.
But the old scholar was very strict in disciplining these young people, and this should be the proudest "achievement" of the old scholar's life.
Always remind them that they must not be barbarians or savages, and must practice well, especially to take the initiative to perform courtesy when meeting officials. As the saying goes, the more courtesy, the less blame people will find.
The leader was just a little curious about what Li Yan said. After hearing what Li Yan said, he didn't say anything more.
Then he turned to Li Guoxin and asked.
"What are you doing in the city?"
By this time, Li Guoxin had already stopped the carriage and came in front of the man who looked like a leader and answered respectfully.
"Reporting to the general, I am the village chief of Lijia Village in Daqingshan. This is my pass."
As he spoke, he took out the pass that he had prepared long ago and handed it over with both hands, and continued.
"I am here to bring some young men to the city to be apprentices and to join the army. Since the journey is too far, we have only just arrived here now."
The leader-like man took the pass, looked at it, and nodded.
"It is indeed true."
When he heard the words "join the army", he laughed.
"But he joined the Guards?"
Li Guoxin replied quickly.
"Exactly! Exactly!"
The man's eyes swept over Li Yan and the other two.
"Which of these people are enlisted in the army?"
Li Guoxin pointed at Li Yan and said.
"Sir, he is the only one who joined the army, the other two are apprentices."
When the man heard this, he also looked in the direction Li Guoxin pointed at Li Yan, and when he saw it was him, he said to Li Yan.
"Oh, it's you!
What you said earlier does make sense, so it is appropriate for you to join the army. Our Marshal Hong now values people with strategy and talent. After all, there are still more strong soldiers. "
After hearing this, Li Yan bowed again.
"Thank you for your advice, General!" said the man who looked like a leader, waving his hand.
"Then you should go quickly. This time, the Royal Guards are only recruiting 150 people. It's already the second day, and this barracks is recruiting quite quickly. It's estimated that it will be full today.
After all, the Guards are considered a rear-line barracks, they see less blood, and their pay is only slightly less than those of us on the front lines."
Then he paused and spoke to Li Yan.
"My name is Liu Chengyong, and I'm the captain of the third team of the Combat Battalion C. We may have to deal with each other in the future."
After hearing this, Li Yan felt very surprised. Are the people in the barracks so easy to talk to
But he didn't dare ask.
Seeing this, Li Guoxin answered for Li Yan.
"Captain Liu, if this boy is lucky enough to enter the barracks, please let me know if there is anything I can do for him."
Liu Chengyong laughed after hearing this.
"Very good, very good!"
Then he returned the pass in his hand to Li Guoxin, stepped aside to make way, and waved his hand to let them enter the city.
Li Guoxin took the guide and put it in his arms, said thank you, asked Li Yan and the other two to get in the car quickly, then drove slowly towards the city gate.
But he was still in doubt about what Captain Liu had just said. He knew that these soldiers were ruthless men who had rolled in blood countless times.
Except for meeting officials in daily life, I have never seen them be so polite to people like me. The best that happens is they just say "Oh" and let us go, and I would be thankful then.
When things get bad, they would often find a reason to beat you up; when you get into trouble, you might be locked up for a few days, and you wouldn't be able to get out easily without paying some money as bribes.
But at this time he was also worried about something, so he didn't think about it anymore and hurriedly drove into the city.
Watching them enter the city, a soldier next to them asked Liu Chengyong curiously.
"Liu Tou, why are you so polite to a country boy?"
Liu Chengyong glanced at him and said lightly.
“Now when it comes to fighting in this army, it is Marshal Hong who has the final say, but since the last time, Division Commander Ji rescued Marshal Hong from the enemy’s siege.
There was a man who was like a god, who took the head of Deputy Marshal Meng in the midst of thousands of troops. Now many matters of Marshal Hong are decided by Military Advisor Ji.
In the past two years, Division Ji has been going to the parade grounds every time soldiers are recruited to personally test the soldiers who sign up, especially those who have studied..."
When he said this, he also had a strange look on his face.
After all, although the number of applicants is limited every time there is conscription, since the conscription has been subsidized in advance, there are dozens to hundreds of people coming every time.
But even so, Division Ji tested the body of each applicant one by one, as if he was carefully selecting good generals.
Although everyone knew what happened later, it was still very tiring and stressful to go through the test by oneself every time. However, Master Ji was unshakable, so everyone still found it a little strange.
At this time, the soldier next to him interrupted.
"Yes, yes, I heard that Master Ji wants to choose a suitable person to be his successor.
Speaking of this, it is really enviable. Lord Ji's martial arts are superb. It is estimated that he is at least at the level of a top master in the world.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to take the general's head in the midst of thousands of troops last time, and bring back Marshal Hong and a group of soldiers. If anyone can learn this kind of martial arts, then he can go anywhere in the world."
Another soldier also spoke in a low voice after looking around to see that there was no one idle at the moment.
"Unfortunately, Lord Ji has also tested everyone in our barracks, but so far no one has caught his eye.
However, I heard that at the beginning of last year, Lord Ji selected a suitable disciple from a small team in the central army camp, but not many people know about this person.
A small soldier like him is not very outstanding in an army of hundreds of thousands. Except for a few people around him, he is only known by his immediate team leader.
Later, he was taken back to the palace by Master Ji to practice, but I heard that because he had never been to school, he probably didn't understand the direction of the meridians, so he went wrong when practicing internal skills, and died of infatuation."
Another soldier spoke up in a smaller voice.
"Really? Some people said that they saw his whole body was swollen and black, and his death was horrible. But this also shows that Master Ji's martial arts is extremely domineering..."
Some of the other soldiers nearby said they had heard about it. Since no one was entering or leaving the city at the moment, a few of them started whispering to each other.
Liu Chengyong glanced at the soldiers with dissatisfaction and said that if these people were not his loyal subordinates, he would have beaten them up. But he also knew that these people in the barracks actually liked to brag and talk nonsense in private.
"Shut up! The higher-ups are not allowed to talk about Strategist Ji outside. Do you want to cause trouble for me?"
After hearing this, the soldiers quickly shrank their necks and nodded in response.
"Yes Yes Yes!"
And he didn't talk about it anymore.
At this time, another soldier asked curiously.
"Liu Tou, why were you so concerned about that boy just now? Could it be that he has a chance to become Master Ji's disciple?"
A slight smile appeared on Liu Chengyong's dark face.
“That’s for sure, but I think this guy has some insight, which shows he’s not stupid.
Judging from his conversation later, he must have been educated, which is what the army needs. Unlike you, you even write your name as "Turtle" when you receive your salary."
When the soldiers heard this, they couldn't help but grin and laugh. It was already good enough for them to be able to write their own names.
"I'm just giving you a few reminders. Is there a chance? Maybe there really is a chance!
All right, just continue to do your duty peacefully, and stop talking nonsense, or you might get reported to the police and lose your head without knowing it."
Liu Chengyong still reminded them that these people could talk nonsense in front of him, but it would be bad if others heard it.
After hearing this, the soldiers quickly stood in line again and took up their duties. However, they were all thinking about Liu Chengyong's actions. It turned out that this guy was casting a wide net to see if he could catch a big fish in the future.