On the grounds of Lanzhou University, iron hooves were flying, yellow sand was rolling, and flags were fluttering majestically.
The Kansai Army, which has been recuperating for several months and has been replenished with fresh blood, is full of energy and morale, and is undergoing field drills.
Today is the first military parade in the school field after the truce. Qin Mubai and Li Daozong, as well as the three pillars of the Guanxi Army except Su Dingfang, and the Eighth Army Platform are all present, as well as the governor Xiao Liang and the fifth-rank or above under the governor's office. Guan Zuoyi should be present to observe. It also attracted some people to climb to the distant mountains to overlook the military power, and there was a buzz of people within a hundred miles.
The momentum is extraordinary and the occasion is unprecedented.
Lanzhou, which has been out of action for many days, has not only recovered from the chaos of war, but also has deeper feelings and stronger cohesion between the military and civilians. The people of Lanzhou are all proud of the Guanxi Army. If a son of a family can join the army, it will be an honor for the whole family.
The folk customs outside the Great Wall are inherently strong. After the battle to annihilate Tibet, Lanzhou's martial arts flames are blazing high, and soldiers enjoy unique status and honor here. Business travelers in the past regarded this place as a paradise and a harbor, not only because Lanzhou's business had regained its vitality, but more importantly because no Xiao Xiao dared to cause chaos in Lanzhou.
In just half a year, Lanzhou after the war calmed down the people's livelihood and restored vitality at an astonishing speed. Business travelers in the past said that although Lanzhou does not have the luxury and prosperity of Chang'an, the tranquility and safety here can best nourish wealth and bring business opportunities. Businessmen are very happy to go to Lanzhou, a Silk Road transit station, to do business. Here, they can get the best protection and the most convenience. As a result, it also brought huge commercial tax revenue to the Lanzhou Metropolitan Government.
It is precisely because of this that although Lanzhou now has more than 100,000 more troops than before the war, it can be self-sufficient and does not need to wait for the court to provide military supplies. In addition, there is quite a surplus. Qin Mubai ordered the governor's office to use most of the taxes for the people. The first priority was to ensure timely pensions for the families of the martyrs, and then to speed up the repair of businesses, hotels, post offices and farmland damaged by the war. Water conservancy construction.
This not only appeased the people's sentiments, but also restored production.
In Lanzhou today, the military and civilians are full of vitality, the city is becoming more prosperous, and the army is becoming more powerful, forming an excellent virtuous cycle.
Qin Mubai's reputation in Lanzhou has reached its peak. In the Kansai Army, Marshal Qin has almost become synonymous with "god". As long as he waved his arms, tens of millions of people would go through fire and water without hesitation; among the people, Qin Shubao's "God of War Temple" ancestral halls can be seen everywhere; and next to the God of War Temple, there must be a living shrine of "Young Marshal Temple" - Lanzhou People , all worshiped Qin Mubai like a god.
Qin Mubai himself also regarded Lanzhou as his second hometown. In this life, I am afraid it will be difficult to let go of this special relationship with Lanzhou.
The Kansai Army originally had about 140,000 veterans, and it recruited 60,000 new soldiers during the First World War between Ping and Tibet. Now they are almost fully trained. Recently, the imperial court has allocated another 100,000 troops, 70% of which are the Kunlun Iron Cavalry, former subordinates of Gar Qinling.
The 300,000-strong army has strong soldiers and strong horses, and its morale is high.
Qin Mubai selected the best among them and selected 200,000 troops to prepare for the western expedition. Then the two hundred thousand people were divided into eight wartime divisions - the front and rear left and right armies, the left and right Hou Hou armies, the central army and the Yifu, each led by a military station. Xue Rengui, Yuwen Hongtai and Pang Fei are the three direct generals under the marshal, responsible for daily training management and distribution of logistics materials.
After recuperating, the system of the Kansai Army has become more sound and complete than before, just like a person who has grown from a vigorous teenager to a steady and mature man, becoming more mature and sophisticated.
Li Daozong, who was born in the military and served in the military for half his life, said that the current Kansai Army can be called the true "hardened by a hundred trials" and "the division of tigers and wolves". This army is extremely rare since the founding of the Tang Dynasty - an army that combines maturity, stability, courage and unity.
It is not easy to get such an evaluation from Li Daozong. Back then, he was a famous marshal who fought side by side with Emperor Li Shimin. When Li Daozong said such words, it meant that the Guanxi army led by Qin Mubai was already comparable to the armies of Li Shimin and Li Jing.
The military parade was in full swing when an official from the Governor's Office came to report that there was a letter from King Wu from Luoche City, which was sent directly to Marshal Qin.
Qin Mubai opened it and saw that it was a large piece of white paper with only a few big characters written on it - "Bring me two bags of tea"!
Li Daozong, Xue Rengui and others also saw it, and they all laughed and said, "What happened to King Wu? He only had two bags of tea. Did he send someone to deliver a message thousands of miles away?" He also wrote the words horizontally and vertically, which was completely exaggerated.
Qin Mubai smiled and said nothing. He had almost thought of Li Ke's crazy scene on the plateau.
Who is Li Ke? The romantic prince!
When he came to Lanzhou, he had never eaten meat due to his status; then, not to mention joining the army, he could only covet Qin Mubai and sleep with Xuelian in his arms every day; now on the plateau... it's so pitiful that there are only bare hands. Where can the mighty Tibetan girl who slaughtered the sheep come from, the beautiful and charming girl with all her charms
Qin Mubai put away the letter and remained silent. After the military parade, he called Pang Fei and told him to find some good "delicate" tea leaves for King Wu, and sent someone to deliver them specially.
Pang Fei had been following Qin Mubai for so long, and he was the most clever and sensible person. He didn't need Qin Mubai to tell the truth, he just brought a few women to the hotel like a magic trick at night. Qin Mubai went out for a walk after dinner and took a look. The few girls he found were really good, and he was interested in teasing them. So he told Pang Fei to quickly arrange for someone to deliver it to Li Ke.
After finishing the matter, Pang Fei smiled at Qin Mubai and said, "Teacher, you and the King of Wu really have a tacit understanding."
"Haha, he is just so flirtatious, how could I not know?" Qin Mubai also smiled, "But his letter also revealed another piece of information to me."
"Just this short sentence, is there another mystery?"
"Yes." Qin Mubai sighed softly and said, "King Wu, you are a little impatient in Luoxe City."
"He wants to return to the capital?"
"No." Qin Mubai smiled and said, "But he didn't dare to tell anyone, let alone complain. He didn't even dare to say it clearly when he wrote to me, so the words on the letter were written in a big way. Yawuzhao is obviously just venting his frustration."
"That's true. After all, King Wu has been accustomed to a life of rich clothes and jade since he was a child. When he arrived in Luoxe City, he was not used to eating and breathing smoothly. No one likes to stay in that place for a long time." Pang Fei said.
Qin Mubai smiled and shook his head gently, and said: "If it were just for these reasons, why did King Wu go with the army in the first place? He must be able to bear this physical pain. He is just anxious, haha! "
"What's the rush?"
"If someone is in a hurry, I'll get the moon first!" Qin Mubai said with a smile.
Pang Fei suddenly woke up, nodded hurriedly and said, "Student understands... I asked too many questions, teacher, please forgive me!"
"It doesn't matter." Qin Mubai smiled magnanimously and said, "Actually, anyone can guess King Wu's mood at this moment. Although he has always denied that he is not interested in the position of prince, he can only deceive himself. Now he Far away in Luozhe, King Wei is accompanying His Majesty the Emperor every day. It is said that the King of Jin has been neglecting the court for a long time, so the chance of King Wei taking over the East Palace will be greatly increased. King Wu, can he not be anxious? ? It would be really hypocritical to not be in a hurry at this time.”
"Actually, for us generals, having King Wu as the crown prince naturally has great benefits. However, we cannot influence the court's thoughts. Even if we want to help, we can't help King Wu!" Pang Feimian said Lu Nan said with a smile.
Qin Mubai smiled slightly and said: "I have always said that, if there is no fight, there will be a big fight. It was like this before, and it is still like this now. Now on the surface, it seems that we have reached a critical moment when every inch of land must be fought; but the more this happens, At this time, it is more important to calm down. So I advise King Wu to continue to stay in Luozie, don't think too much, and don't do anything unnecessary. In fact, the farther away from Chang'an we are and the more power we have, the safer we will be and the better chance we have of winning. On the contrary, if the court recruits me and King Wu to return to Beijing at this time, it will be a big deal. So, I must. Set off as soon as possible for the expedition to the Western Region."
Pang Fei's face changed slightly, and he whispered, "Master, do you think... is it possible that the imperial court is recruiting you back to the capital at this time just to reduce your military power and cut off King Wu's wings?"
Qin Mubai raised his eyebrows and did not answer the question directly, but said: "The court is far more dangerous than the battlefield. The swords, guns and arrows on the battlefield are all visible to the naked eye; the conspiracies and traps in the court are often more dangerous. It constitutes an undetectable murderous move, and sometimes even the knife is held to the neck without coming back to consciousness. It's not that I can't trust the court, I just do what I should do. At this time, I am the governor of Anxi. There is nothing wrong with raising troops to go to the Western Regions.”
"Student understands!" Pang Fei's eyes lit up and he whispered in a low voice, "It turns out that King Wu's letter is also urging his mentor to leave Lanzhou early, just to preserve his strength! He may have also expected that the imperial court might come in At this time, even if it is not specifically aimed at you, it is to seize all the initiative so that you will not be affected by you, a feudal official! - In other words, the imperial court is very likely to appoint a prince soon! ! King Wu is very worried about losing you, his biggest supporter, at this critical moment! This letter is here to remind you!"
Qin Mubai smiled slightly and patted Pang Fei on the shoulder, "You have great energy!"
Pang Fei hurriedly bowed his hands and said, "It's my mentor who gave me good advice! - My mentor and King Wu have such a tacit understanding! No outsider can see the clues in a text message, but it seems like you two are having a heart-to-heart conversation." Ichiban!”
Qin Mubai smiled and said: "Actually, King Wu is not so impatient. I hope he will feel relieved after receiving the few beauties I sent over. By the way, ask the people accompanying you to tell King Wu, I have already raised my troops to go to the Western Regions, so he is naturally relieved."
"Yes, students do as you are told!"
"In addition, you will stay in Lanzhou after I leave. After the war is over, I will return to my duties. King Jiangxia, the acting governor, has been idle and will probably return to Chang'an soon." Qin Mubai said, "Lanzhou is our base camp , There is no room for error. I wouldn’t trust it if it were handed over to any outsider. You can stay here and run the business well, and you can’t make any mistakes.”
"Yes! Students swear to live up to their orders!" Pang Fei solemnly promised, and then said, "When is the teacher planning to leave?"
"the day after tomorrow."
"So fast? We just had a military parade today and are leaving the day after tomorrow?"
Qin Mubai looked up at the sky and took a long breath and said: "Pang Fei, although everything is calm now, there will be happy events after the Pingfan victory. But if you look at this day, you can see that there are dark clouds covering the sky and a storm is coming. . If I leave a day earlier, I will have more initiative in my hands.”
"Then mentor, please leave as soon as possible! As soon as the students return, they will pack up the logistics supplies in preparation for the expedition the day after tomorrow!"
"Well, let's do it!"
Back home, Qin Mubai told his family about the expedition the day after tomorrow.
There was an explosion at home. Princess Gaoyang asked anxiously, "We have just finished fighting Tubo and haven't rested for a few months. Are you leaving again?" Didn't you send someone to pick up mother and Shuang'er? They haven't come here yet, but you are leaving again!
Xue Lian touched her big belly and remained silent. Chen Yan, who never interfered with Qin Mubai's business affairs, also reminded her that you were not around when we were about to have children. Now it seems that Blood Lotus is about to give birth, but you have to leave. Can it be a few days later
Qin Mubai said, no.
The girls didn't say much more. Princess Gaoyang ran back to the room with her silver teeth gritted, and punched the quilt angrily.
Qin Mubai didn't bother to persuade or comfort anyone, because he knew that Chen Yan would definitely handle these things for him. The women around me are all reasonable people. Even though Princess Gaoyang usually has a bit of a temper and likes to make mischief, she never holds back or acts emotionally when the critical moment comes.
Traveling far away in the Western Regions, thousands of miles away, I don’t know when we will meet again. Qin Mubai was also very reluctant to leave his family, especially his young children.
The family spent two days together reluctantly, and Qin Mubai set off on time to take command of the expedition.
Two hundred thousand Kansai troops marched far into the Western Regions and conquered thousands of miles.