*****
The setting sun shines on the southward-flowing river, and thousands of golden lights ripple on the waves. The willows on the bank are misty and swaying in the wind, like a bride in the sunset.
After a heavy rain, the river became flatter and wider, and the water and sky were level with the shore.
Lady Matchmaker, dressed in red, sat cross-legged on the bluestone by the river. At first glance, she looked like a sunset glow by the river that could not be blown away by the wind.
This kind of sitting posture would never appear on Li Xiangjun and others, but when it appears on Hong Niangzi, it feels very natural.
Qin Mu changed into a plain white casual outfit, his sleeves fluttering in the breeze, adding a sense of elegance.
The red sunset had already half sunk into the mountain mist in the west. Lady Hong didn't even look at him, and asked casually, "Is your hand wound okay?"
"It's okay, just a flesh wound."
Hongniangzi took out a finger-sized iron tube from her bosom, handed it to him and said, "This thing can fire three poison needles at a time. Although it is not as powerful as your Torrential Pear Blossom Needle, it can fire three times in a row and can kill people within five steps. After use, you can reload the needles."
"Is there really such a thing?" Qin Mu took it awkwardly. The small tube still had the body temperature of Hongniang. He couldn't help but look at her arms subconsciously, but he saw her breasts standing up, and her clothes were about to burst... ... ...
Lady Hong blushed and said, "You little thief, you are courting death!"
"What is this thing called and how do I use it?" Qin Mu pretended nothing had happened and began to study the small tube in his hand.
"Don't move." Hongniang came up quickly and taught him step by step, "Here... this little mechanism, when firing, first move it to the left, then push it forward, and then press it down. Press it once to fire once. Remember. You can only fire three times in a row, and it will only work within five steps."
"You made this yourself? What's it called?"
"You can call it whatever you want, and don't worry about who did it."
Qin Mu choked and ignored it, but this was good stuff.
"Anything else?"
"Gone."
Qin Mu put the things away with some regret. Qiao'er was a girl who always loved to run outside. It would be great if he could get one more of such a good thing for Qiao'er to use for self-defense.
"What are you going to do next?" Hong Niangzi sat back on the bluestone slab and asked while looking at the mountain mist dyed red by the glow of the sunset.
"The soldiers are very tired and need some rest. We need to reinforce Chizhou to keep the Tartars out of Jiangxi. We also need to recapture Wuyang Pass in the north as soon as possible to prevent the Tartars from advancing further."
"I think you are busy annexing the Dashun Army."
Qin Mu did not deny it either: "The morale of the remaining troops of the Dashun Army is low, and they are afraid of the enemy and afraid to fight. If I don't reorganize them immediately, I will be killed by them sooner or later. If Liu Fangliang's troops hadn't hesitated to move forward this time, Ajige would definitely not have escaped. I worked hard and set myself as bait, but in the end I failed. If you want to do your job well, you must first sharpen your tools. It is imperative to reorganize these troops."
"I don't care about these. I just want to know when you will fight back to Henan. I will personally kill that beast Lekedehun." Thinking of the 20,000 old, weak, women and children who were massacred at Wuyang Pass, Hongniang was filled with hatred.
"Hatred can be a driving force to defeat the enemy. It can also make people do a lot of stupid things. If a general is swayed by hatred, he will sooner or later destroy his army."
"Why am I so stupid? Duoduo is attacking Jiangnan. The Tartars don't have many troops in Henan. This is a good time to counterattack Henan."
"You only saw the enemy's situation, but didn't see your own situation clearly. Ajige has been beaten into a helpless situation by me, and Liu Fangliang is still afraid of the enemy. Can we win if we order them to march north to Henan?"
"Where are your men?"
"My troops are not made of iron. They also need to rest. Moreover, the eastern front is in danger. We must stabilize the eastern front first. Otherwise, how can we lose the big picture while picking up sesame seeds? In addition, have you ever thought about it? Most of the Tartars are cavalry. The flat terrain of Henan is extremely advantageous to them. In order to fight the Tartars for Henan, we must make a detailed plan first."
Lady Hong said with some disapproval: "We are on the plains this time, can't you still defeat Ajige?"
"These are two completely different concepts. Although the east bank of the Ju River is a plain, it is only a hundred miles in radius, and our army is still fighting on the interior line. There are no problems with troop mobilization, food and grass transportation, and weapon supply. Once we go north to Henan, it will be a completely different situation. The battle line will be stretched for thousands of miles. Our army is mainly composed of infantry. Facing the highly mobile Tatar cavalry, how to ensure the safety of the logistics supply line is a big problem. If we don't have a detailed battle plan and rashly march into the flat terrain of Henan, the outcome is unpredictable."
Lady Hong stopped talking. Based on their strength, his troops should not have been defeated so badly. It was precisely because of their poor mobility, lack of food and weapons that they were almost completely annihilated. Her failure actually confirmed what Qin Mu said.
Qin Mu sighed and said, "It seems that you are indeed blinded by hatred. I was originally planning to let you lead a few thousand troops after the reorganization. Forget it. Looking at you like this, if I hand over the army to you, you will only kill me."
"You..." Hong Niangzi was very annoyed by what he said, but finally couldn't resist the temptation and asked, "Are you really willing to give me thousands of troops?"
"What do you mean by give it to you? It means you are allowed to lead, but the prerequisite is that you must obey military orders. Otherwise, you will be punished according to military law."
"I will obey orders. The army never jokes. If you agree, you will have to give me several thousand troops."
"You are the king, and I will never joke with you. You are the king of kings."
"Who cares about that, just give me the men and horses."
Qin Mu suddenly asked, "I heard that you have a good relationship with Gao Guiying, right?"
"Why are you asking that?"
The setting sun had completely gone down the mountain, and the range of the sunset glow had shrunk a lot, leaving only a corner of the western sky. The rest of the sky had turned into light ochre and pale blue. Hong Niang stretched out her long legs, and seeing that Qin Mu had not answered for a long time, she could not help but look at him, only to see that he was staring at her.
"I'm asking you a question. Why are you looking at me, you little thief?" Hong Niang frowned and glared at him fiercely.
“This world is so wide, it makes loneliness so slow. For whom does the wolf in the wilderness wander...?”
"Don't humph. You are the wolf."
"Haha, I didn't say you were, why are you so anxious? By the way, do you know where Yanran Mountain is?"
"I don't know." Hongniang shook her head, and naturally thought of the last sentence of the song: Many years ago, I was wrapped in time and walked across Yanran Mountain against the wind.
"Yanran Mountain is in the north of the desert, and it is three thousand miles north of Datong. The Wolf's Lair was sealed and the stone was engraved on Yanran. The great achievements of our ancestors are admirable, but since the Han and Tang Dynasties, we Han people have not been to Yanran Mountain again. After thousands of years, how many Han people still remember Yanran Mountain?"
"You...what do you mean by this?" asked Hong Niangzi hesitantly.
"I want to go to Mount Yanran. Would you like to go with me? One day, we will lead 100,000 soldiers to conquer Yanran together, eliminate the troubles in the north, and let the people live a peaceful life. Then we will climb Mount Yanran together, engrave a stone to record our achievements, and set an example for future generations. What do you say?"
"Okay!" Hongniang answered with a look of longing on her face and sparkling eyes, then quickly stopped talking.
"Let's consider this as our agreement. No one can give up until this dream comes true, okay?"
"Don't keep asking if I'm okay. Just say what you want to say."
"Ahem... Well, to realize our common dream, we must first eliminate the Tartars. We have to fight many battles. To fight a war, we need to recruit soldiers and distribute food and wages. It takes a lot of money to pay the soldiers..."
"What do you want to do?" Hong Niangzi immediately looked alert.
"Don't get excited, don't get excited. For our common dream, we must work together..."
"You are dreaming. I have finally figured it out. You originally wanted to swallow up the remaining wealth of the Dashun Army. I was wondering why you were so kind and gave me several thousand troops in one go. It turns out that you wanted me to persuade Empress Gao to surrender so that you can swallow up both the people and the wealth. This is a very clever plan."
"My lady, don't go, don't go..."
"Let go..." Hong Niang screamed and shook her hand suddenly, but Qin Mu held on too tightly and her sleeve ripped with a "swish", revealing a piece of her delicate arm. She was so angry that she whipped him.
"I'm a wounded man!" Qin Mu shouted anxiously, and rushed forward to avoid a whip on the head. Hong Niangzi didn't expect him to be so shameless, and was caught off guard and knocked to the ground by him.
"You little thief, you are looking for death..."
"Don't shout. Be careful if someone sees us. My reputation will be ruined."
“I’m going to kill you… … … um… … um… … um… … ”
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ps: I am very tired these days. I am sweeping the graves. It will probably take a few more days to finish. In my hometown, I sweep the graves of the nine generations of ancestors on the first day, and then have a big dinner for a thousand people. On the second day, I sweep the graves of the eight generations of ancestors, and have a big dinner for five hundred people. On the third day, I sweep the graves of the seven generations of ancestors, and have a dinner for three hundred people... ... In short, I sweep the graves of my great-grandfather one by one, and finally sweep the graves of my great-grandfather. Hao Yuan's grandfather was an expeditionary soldier, and he probably died in Burma. There has been no news for decades, and now there is not even a tomb with clothes and hats. Alas!
.(To be continued..)
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