Early the next morning, with drums and horns blaring and flags flying, the Kansai Army from Dafeichuan gathered in the school grounds.
Li Daozong put on his long-lost military uniform in a battle robe and armor. He held a knife on his hips and stood on the general's platform. He looked at the soldiers gathering from all directions, and his expression was always serious.
The army in front of him gave him a very unusual feeling.
During his half-life in the military, Li Daozong had seen all kinds of armies. They were as elite as the Xuanjia Army under the command of King Qin, but they did not have the fighting spirit and momentum exuded by the Guanxi Army in front of him. In fact, when looking at generals, the Lanzhou Guanxi Army is still very young. It only lasted a few years since Qin Shubao entered Lanzhou.
Li Daozong was a little confused about what kind of magical power the father and son of the Qin family had to build a young army into such a strong, tenacious, and united army in a short period of time.
This can be achieved not only through rigorous training and good equipment.
After pondering for a long time, Li Daozong vaguely thought of one factor: Lanzhou's Guanxi Army, except for a few soldiers and horses brought by Qin's father and son from the two capitals of Guanzhong, most of the rest were local soldiers from Lanzhou. Originally, Lanzhou was a battleground for military strategists who suffered from frequent wars. The folk customs were strong and the people were strong, and people longed for peace and tranquility.
Since the Qin family and his son entered Lanzhou one after another, they have won successive battles and secured Lanzhou. The most important thing is that they have given the people here a peaceful and contented life. This has also magically changed the situation of poverty and bureaucracy in Lanzhou in the past. Shangfu was active, and the people gradually became rich.
Because of this alone, the Qin family and his son are enough to have unparalleled prestige in Lanzhou. It is not surprising that every soldier in the Kansai army has extremely deep feelings for the Qin family and his son.
Only those who have experienced war know the value of peace and the hard-won tranquility. When Lanzhou was again in turmoil, the local people enthusiastically joined the army with little need to mobilize. But bad news came one after another, and Qin's father and son died in battle one after another. This was a bolt from the blue for the soldiers and civilians of Lanzhou, and they suffered great stimulation.
To put it bluntly, even if the current emperor dies, the soldiers and people of Lanzhou may not have any special feelings. There is no doubt that the Qin family and his son have become the soul and pillars of the people of Lanzhou and the Kansai army!
Thinking of this, Li Daozong couldn't help but sigh secretly: No wonder our soldiers were so willing to risk their lives to fight the Tubo people during the battle at Qingluoyuan yesterday. If it were me, if the benefactor who killed me and the enemy of my father and brother were right in front of me, how could I not be jealous and manic and fight to the death? ... I, Li Daozong, can confidently say that I can lead any army in the world with ease, including the emperor's imperial guards. I can also control them docilely. But I'm really not sure about the Kansai Army in front of me. Qin Shubao and Qin Mubai, their status in the hearts of the officers and soldiers of the Kansai Army, especially the local people and veteran officers and soldiers of Lanzhou, is absolutely irreplaceable!
Several drums sounded, and the military formation was assembled.
All 90,477 people in the army were present and no one was absent. Even the sergeant who was seriously injured and lying on his bed was carried out on a stretcher and laid down on the main campus.
Seeing this scene, Li Daozong, who had been accustomed to seeing any big scenes for half his life, felt inexplicably blocked. An invisible pressure made him breathless.
"Maybe these generals know what I am going to say... The hatred in their hearts is as irresolvable as their attachment to Dafeichuan. What should I tell them? Whether it is to temporarily give up revenge or give up this military camp, to them It’s totally unacceptable, and even more cruel…”
"Your Majesty, the troops have been assembled." Xue Wanjun stepped forward and clasped his fists, "Please give me instructions, Your Majesty."
"Well..." Li Daozong took a deep breath and nodded, took a few steps forward and started to speak.
…
At this time, not far from the entrance of the army camp, an ordinary civilian-style carriage drove over. The cavalry patrolling the sentry immediately ran over, pointed their guns and shouted in warning: "In this important military area, all idlers should avoid it! Leave quickly, otherwise you will be punished as a spy!"
Moreover, instead of leaving in a hurry, the carriage was heading towards the camp. The cavalry sentries stepped forward and surrounded him, shouting: "Whoever breaks into our camp without permission, get out of the car!"
The curtain of the carriage window was lifted, and a beautiful woman wearing a black gauze brimmed hat walked out of it. Her graceful figure and graceful movements made her easily jump off the carriage.
All the sergeants couldn't help being surprised, and their eyes lit up: What a skill, what a style! ... Hey, she also has a sword in her hand, it seems she must be skilled in martial arts!
"My surname is Chen." The woman held her sword in both hands and cupped her hands. She opened the car door and took out a little girl and said, "Her surname is Qin."
"Your surname is Qin?" All the sergeants were surprised, "You are the young marshal... who are you?"
"I know, I know, the young marshal you are talking about is my father! My name is Qin Xiaolou, hehe! This is my mother-in-law!" The little girl giggled innocently and said first.
"It turns out they are the young marshal's family members, and they are so neglectful!!!" All the sergeants hurriedly dropped their horses and saluted.
"No need to be polite." Chen Yan glanced at the army stronghold and said, "Is it convenient to enter the army at this time?... I only brought my daughter here to pay homage to her father. I have no other intention."
"Convenient, convenient! Please come quickly, madam! The young general will go ahead and inform the King of Jiangxia and the generals first!"
"That's fine." Chen Yan didn't say much, then she hugged Xiao Lou'er and walked into the military camp with the group of sergeants. She thought to herself, no wonder she didn't see her adoptive father when she visited the Governor's Mansion. She didn't expect that he came to Dafeichuan before me. Did something really happen to Mu Bai? If not, how could we move our adoptive father from Lanzhou to take charge of the overall situation
Thinking of this, Chen Yan felt like a knife was twisting her heart, and she hugged Xiao Lou'er tightly.
At this time, there was a lot of excitement around the stage, and the generals were making a big fuss.
"I won't retreat! I won't retreat even if I'm killed!" Yuwen Hongtai was the first to attack. He didn't care about military etiquette. He rushed up to the general stand in excitement, almost pointed at Li Daozong's nose and shouted, "This military order is fake! It must be fake! King Jiangxia, I always respect you, please don't lie to me!"
"Yu Wen Hongtai, please stop being so unreasonable and refusing to back down!" Hou Junji shouted in a deep voice.
"Shut up!" Yuwen Hongtai yelled, "Thank you for thinking so highly of you, Hou Junji! As soon as my third brother leaves, you are going to lead us away in despair and act like cowards! No revenge will be avenged. No, not even Da Feichuan! - It's clear that you two worked together to deceive us by making a fake military order! Where did the third brother leave you with the military order? fraud!"
There were many generals in the audience who had the same idea as Yuwen Hongtai, especially those in Modao camp who were determined by Yuwen Hongtai's life and death. At this time, they all joined in and shouted loudly.
Li Daozong is so depressed!
According to his usual temper, he had captured Yuwen Hongtai long ago and dealt with him under military law. But now, it really doesn't work.
First of all, even Li Daozong himself found the military order left by Qin Mubai a bit unbelievable and incomprehensible. If this military order hadn't been given to him by his biological daughter Li Xueyan, he wouldn't have believed it even if he got it from somewhere. Furthermore, although Yuwen Hongtai was only a fourth-grade general now, his relationship with Qin Mubai They are inseparable, just like biological brothers. Everyone in the Kansai Army knows this. In addition, Yuwen Hongtai had always only recognized the father and son of the Qin family. He ignored all generals and princes and could do anything rash if he got angry. Therefore, even Hou Junji and Xue Wanjun were usually in awe of this upright and fierce man.
"What a headache!" Li Daozong couldn't help but secretly complain.
"Yuwen Hongtai, are you literate?" Hou Junji said suddenly.
"I can't read, what's wrong?" Yuwen Hongtai said angrily.
"Then there's nothing we can do." Hou Junji said with a mocking and helpless smile, "If you can read, you can still identify whether this is the Young Marshal's handwriting."
Yuwen Hongtai rolled his eyes, stepped forward and grabbed the military order, "Bring it to me and show it to me!"
"Ahem, you knocked it down!" Li Daozong almost couldn't help laughing.
The audience burst into laughter, and someone shouted, "General Yuwen, you'd better come down quickly and don't contradict the prince! That military order must be fake, so there's no need to identify it!"
"That's right! Hmph!" Yuwen Hongtai angrily threw the white silk military order to Li Daozong, glared at him a few times, and said, "Your Highness, we invite you here to lead us to fight, and to deal with the Tibetan people to the young marshal. Revenge. Why do you want to take us away when you come? - If you really want to do this, you should go back to Lanzhou! We can fight this war by ourselves!"
"Yu Wen Hongtai, if you don't shut up, get out!" Xue Wanjun shouted in a deep voice.
"Get out!" Seeing that Li Daozong's expression was about to change, Yuwen Hongtai jumped off the general platform, patted his butt, and stood back in the train like a winner.
Li Daozong and Hou Junji looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces.
This situation is really difficult to deal with. It's not that the generals didn't even listen to Qin Mubai's military orders, the main thing is that this military order came very strangely, which made people doubt its authenticity. At first, no one wanted to retreat, so naturally they subjectively concluded it was false.
"Xue Wanjun, I hope you will put the overall situation first." Li Daozong said in a low voice, "Qin Mubai's special handwriting is called 'Thin Gold'. Even His Majesty the Emperor once praised his calligraphy and painting, saying, 'Unparalleled in the world, You can't imitate it. As a central general, you are quite familiar with Qin Mubai's handwriting, right?"
Xue Wanjun said: "Of course it is. The general knows what the prince wants to say. Although the general can't believe it, the general knows that this military order is indeed true and came from the hands of the young commander. But..."
"Stop 'but'!" Li Daozong lowered his eyebrows and said, "The military situation is so fierce, how can we allow delay? The top priority is to evacuate Dafeichuan!"
"We just don't understand why we need to withdraw?" Xue Wanjun finally shouted out what he was thinking.
"Military orders are for obeying, not for questioning or explaining!" Li Daozong shouted, "Since you believe this military order is true, execute it!"
"Fake, fake, fake!!" Yuwen Hongtai in the audience shouted again.
"Yu Wen Hongtai, don't be irritable anymore! Otherwise, the sixteen execution knives in red on the stage will be executed without mercy!"
…
In front of the general ordering table, the quarrel turned into a pot of porridge. They are all strong-blooded warriors, their words are full of anger, and the scene is extremely heated.
Chen Yan carried Xiaolou'er and walked to the vicinity of the general platform. From a distance, she saw Li Daozong and others making a fuss there. She couldn't help but feel worried and angry. She thought to herself: "Why did the troops under his command make such a fuss just after Mu Bai left?" Civil strife? Even my adoptive father can’t hold himself back!
"Auntie, look, grandpa is there! And Uncle Hei, why are they quarreling?" Xiao Lou'er pointed over there and said a little scared.
Chen Yan asked the sergeant who was leading the way what was going on. The sergeant told the truth, saying that the generals and the prince were having an endless quarrel over the authenticity of the military orders left by Marshal Qin.
"That's it. I know your young marshal's calligraphy!" After saying that, Chen Yan carried Xiao Lou'er and walked to the general stand.
As soon as she appeared, she attracted the attention of many people. Li Daozong, Yuwen Hongtai and others also temporarily stopped making noise and looked at her in unison.
"Chen Yan? Why are you here!" Li Daozong said in surprise.
"Grandpa! Uncle Black!" Xiao Lou'er was not timid at all. She was not afraid of the countless people present, and she called them with a smile.
When Yu Wen Hongtai saw Xiao Lou'er, he was immediately overjoyed. He rushed to the general stage and picked her up. He laughed and hugged her several times, and then said loudly: "Brothers, this is Our young marshal’s wife and daughter are waiting for you!”
"I've met Madam!" Tens of thousands of people clasped their fists and saluted with great momentum!
"Wow, there are so many people..." Xiao Lou'er was a little scared now and hugged Yuwen Hongtai's neck tightly, "Uncle Hei, I'm scared! There are so many people here, please carry me and go!"
"Lou'er, be good, don't leave. Come down and stop pestering Uncle Hei." Chen Yan took Xiao Lou'er and put her on the ground, leaving her to stand by herself. She hugged Li Daozong and said, "Your Majesty, I heard that you are determined to determine the authenticity of the military order left by Mu Bai. If you are willing to ask me, can you show me his handwriting? "
Li Daozong suddenly took a long breath and said: "This is the best - soldiers, have you all heard it? Her name is Chen Yan, and she is the young marshal's wife. If she can identify the handwriting, everyone will believe it, right?"
Yuwen Hongtai was stunned for a moment, looked at Chen Yan blankly, and whispered: "Sister-in-law, then you have to... see clearly?"
"Don't worry." Chen Yan smiled slightly, "I would like to ask the prince to give you military orders."
"Look!" Li Daozong gave the general order to Chen Yan.
Chen Yan took the military order written on white silk and read each word carefully.
On the school grounds, the wind started blowing. The yellow sand is flying, and the flags are flying. The white silk was also flying in Chen Yan's hands.
The handwriting on the white silk was so familiar... In front of Chen Yan's eyes, she couldn't help but picture the paper crane tied to the window edge and flying in the wind in the small water-built building outside Xiangyang City.
The past has passed, and the deceased has passed away...
"This writing is true..." After a long time, Chen Yan said these words mechanically.
"How could it be possible! Impossible!" Yuwen Hongtai shouted, "Sister-in-law, you must understand clearly!"
"It's not wrong." Chen Yan took a deep breath, holding back the tears in her eyes, and said, "If I can still remember the handwriting of one person in this world, it must be Xiao Lou'er's father."
After saying that, Chen Yan took out a small cloth bag from her arms and opened it. Inside was a folded paper crane. She unfolded it, and there were a few poems on it.
"You can compare it yourself. This is the poem Mu Bai wrote back then."
"Don't look, I don't want to look!" Yuwen Hongtai yelled twice, then shouted to the sky unwillingly, "Why! Third brother, why do you want us to retreat!"
The whole place fell silent.
"Uncle Hei, don't be angry..." Xiao Louer timidly pulled the corner of Yuwen Hongtai's clothes.
"Okay, I'm not angry!..." Yuwen Hongtai stopped in a hurry, bent down to pick up Xiao Lou'er, but couldn't help sobbing, "Xiao Lou'er, your Uncle Hei is useless, you are a waste, a coward! Even if you try hard Even if I lose my life, I can’t cut off the head of Garqin Ling, and I haven’t avenged your father!”
"Avenge my father? Why?" Xiaolou'er tilted his head and blinked his big black eyes, asking curiously.
"Lou'er, come here." Chen Yan called, "Come and read the military orders written by your father to your uncles."
"Oh!" Xiaolouer responded with a smile. Yuwen Hongtai carried her over and put her down. Chen Yan opened the white silk fabric with both hands.
"Auntie, I don't know many of the words on it!... I only know a few!" Xiao Lou'er stuck out his tongue and said a little shyly with a grimace on his face.
"Come, grandma will teach you how to read."
"Okay!"
"General!" Chen Yan's voice was extremely firm.
"General!" Xiao Lou'er imitated her mother's accent and shouted with her childish voice.
"All officers and men of the Kansai Army..."
"All the officers and men of the Kansai Army!... Auntie, I know the word scholar!"
"Abandon all the baggage..."
A girl and a boy chanted the words of the military order one after another. The sound was not loud, but it resounded very clearly in the clear sky of Dafeichuan.
"The General Manager of the Guanxi Road March - Qin Mubai!" After reading the last sentence, tears finally came out of Chen Yan's eyes.
"Qin Mubai, that's my father!... Mom, why are you crying?" Xiaolouer hurriedly went up and hugged Chen Yan's legs.
"Woo! -" On the side, Yuwen Hongtai suddenly burst into tears and shouted hoarsely, "Brothers, did you hear clearly the military order that Madam read?"
"Listen clearly!!" the soldiers of the three armies roared with sadness.
"What a fool! Pack up the guys and get ready to leave!!!" Yuwen Hongtai shouted hysterically, strode forward and picked up Xiao Lou'er, holding him tightly in his arms and refusing to let go. I, however, howled loudly and cried like a child.
"Uncle Hei, be good, don't cry!" Xiaolouer hugged Yuwen Hongtai's neck, patted him on the back like an adult, and said, "Who bullied you? When my father comes back, I will tell you Him! Let him hit that bad guy!"
Yuwen Hongtai cried even harder.
The officers and soldiers of the three armies dispersed silently...
"Hey!..." Li Daozong let out a long sigh. He didn't know whether it was a sigh of relief or a sigh of sadness. He said to himself, "General, the soul of the army! The Guanxi Army has been deeply marked by Qin Mubai. No one can erase the mark of it! ... What a pity, a pity, and a respectable thing!"