After Eunuch Jiang was beheaded, the entire team became much easier to lead.
Yan Liqiang and his companions arrived at the county seat of Hualan County later that day and met the county magistrate Xu Taizhong.
Xu Taizhong was also a diligent official of the imperial court. Although at this time he was already overwhelmed by the riot launched by the White Lotus Sect in Wuting County and had dispatched troops everywhere to put out the riot, after learning the identities of Concubine Rong and her party, he still dispatched 500 cavalrymen to escort Concubine Rong and Yan Liqiang and her party to continue on their journey, leaving Hualan County and continuing to head southwest, passing through the entire Hualan County, and returning to the border between Huizhou and Chengzhou.
The reason why Concubine Rong was named a concubine in the palace was not only because she was favored and gave birth to a prince, but also because Concubine Rong's father was the former Jinzhou governor Luo Xianzhang, and the current Jinzhou governor Luo Yutian was Concubine Rong's brother. Concubine Rong's maternal family, the Luo family, was the largest family in Jinzhou. They had produced three governors and were deeply rooted and powerful in Jinzhou. They were truly the top local power. When Concubine Rong escaped from the capital, in this chaotic time, of course it was safest to take Prince Min back home. This was also what His Majesty the Emperor instructed when he asked Concubine Rong and others to enter the secret passage to leave the palace. To return to Jinzhou, the shortest way is to enter Chengzhou, which borders Huizhou, from Hualan County, and then continue to go southwest. After passing Chengzhou, you can reach Jinzhou via Guzhou.
When Yan Liqiang and his men left the county seat of Hualan County, more than 100,000 hungry refugees in Wuting County were swept away by the White Lotus Sect and rushed towards the county seat of Hualan County like a torrent. As soon as Xu Taizhong sent Yan Liqiang and his men away, he went to look for the equally troubled Huizhou governor to ask for reinforcements.
The beacon smoke pillars in the Imperial Capital City went out after lasting for a few days. Until the beacon smoke pillars for the Imperial Capital City's call for help went out, no reinforcements from any direction could enter the capital area.
The chaos in the entire capital area was spreading. The refugees who escaped from the capital area and the walking dead who had turned into wild beasts were spreading in all directions like a flood. All the states and counties adjacent to the capital area were affected. The hungry refugees needed to eat, and the walking dead following the refugees wanted to eat people. This sudden change made the local authorities unable to cope with it in a hurry. In addition, the White Lotus Sect took the opportunity to fan the flames of riots and assassinate local officials. For a time, riots and unrest broke out one after another in the states and counties surrounding the capital area of the Han Empire, and more and more places were corrupt.
Yan Liqiang and his team worked non-stop every day, leaving all the problems and troubles behind with speed...
After the team left Huizhou, they encountered fewer and fewer refugees on the road, and correspondingly, local security improved a lot. Although the changes in the capital of the Han Empire shocked the world, at this time, the farther away from the capital, the fewer refugees there were, and the stronger the control of the local government. Although the officials of local governments in various places are also in a panic and even at a loss in the sudden changes, with all kinds of news flying all over the sky, the huge inertia of the system of the Han Empire still has tremendous energy and control in a short period of time, so that not all places are in chaos.
Yan Liqiang and his entourage were well-organized, with complete carriages and horses, swords and guns in hand, and murderous aura. Wherever they passed, no matter whether they were local tyrants or gangsters, they dared not easily provoke them. When they encountered government checkpoints on the road, Yan Liqiang took out his identity badge as the Imperial Horse and Infantry Officer and said that he had important business to attend to, so he could pass through without any obstruction. Ordinary local officials did not dare to intercept and cause trouble for the emperor's personal army at this time. If they really delayed things and caused trouble, and offended someone they shouldn't have offended, who knew if they would be beheaded by an imperial edict in a few days or be dismissed by their superiors...
In this way, Yan Liqiang led the team to leave Huizhou and traveled all the way. They set out at dawn and camped at dark. In order to avoid trouble and people's eyes and ears, they generally did not enter the city, but camped in the wild. After more than ten days, they did not encounter any troubles and safely passed through Chengzhou and entered Guzhou.
On March 17th of the 17th year of Yuanping in the Han Empire, Yan Liqiang led his troops into Luquan County in the central part of Guzhou.
Today was just like the previous few days. Everyone traveled all day. Although they were on the official road, Luquan County was mountainous, so they basically went around in the mountains. When it got dark, there were still many mountains around them. Yan Liqiang asked the team to find a small valley near the official road in the wild, put the four-wheeled carriage outside, and took out the tent to make a fire, set up camp, cook and rest.
In the past few days, Yan Liqiang has been leading the team across counties and states. Due to his responsibilities, he has been much more diligent and paid attention to all kinds of details. Although it is a bit hard, Yan Liqiang found that such hard work is not in vain. He seldom has this kind of experience in leading troops on weekdays. This time he led the team on a long journey. As the commander-in-chief, he encountered all kinds of situations along the way, and he had to make decisions. It was just right for him to put the knowledge from military books into practice. The two were verified and he gained a lot, and a special kind of spiritual understanding was imprinted in his heart.
Take the daily marching and choosing routes and places to camp as an example. In the past few days, the words in the "Marching Chapter" in "The Art of War" appeared in Yan Liqiang's mind countless times, and Yan Liqiang has memorized it by heart - "All armies prefer high ground and hate low ground, value the sun and despise the shade, live in solid places to maintain health. An army without a hundred diseases is said to be victorious. Hills and embankments must be built on the sunny side, with the right back against them. This is the advantage of the army, and the help of the terrain", and "Avoid mountains and rely on valleys, and live in high places", "Avoid water and stay away from water" and so on. Yan Liqiang knows them by heart.
Without practice and experience, it is difficult to appreciate the mystery and intention of these things. Take the simple sentence "If you want to cut off water, you must stay away from water" for example. Although it is just five seemingly simple words, I don’t know how many lives have been lost and blood and tears have been learned to draw such a summary of experience. Once these things are mastered and tacitly understood in the heart, the strict laws of the army will be demonstrated at all times. Just like tonight, Yan Liqiang seemed to have randomly chosen a valley as a place to camp, but this place has already secretly fits the wonderful meaning of "prefer high places and hate low places, value the sun and despise the shade, and live in reality to maintain health."
Another example is the daily coordination of chariots and horses, and the placement of vehicles after setting up camp, and other daily details. You can refer to the training methods of chariot soldiers, cavalry, and combined chariot, infantry and cavalry battalions in the "Training Methods" in Qi Jiguang's "Records of Military Training", and compare and comprehend them every day, which will also bring you different gains and insights.
At the beginning, Yan Liqiang felt it was hard and burdensome to lead the team on the road, but slowly, his perspective changed, and Yan Liqiang no longer felt it was hard. Instead, he enjoyed it and gained something every day.
Yan Liqiang inspected the camp carefully, visited every corner, and then personally arranged the sentries in the camp before returning to his tent.
Yan Liqiang had just returned to the tent and taken off his armor and weapons when Meng Hui came in with a small copper pot full of fragrant fish soup, smiling, "Sir, please try this fish soup. How does it taste?"
On that day, Eunuch Jiang went into the Deer Garden and slapped Meng Hui in the face. That day, Yan Liqiang asked Meng Hui to chop off Eunuch Jiang's head to avenge him. Since that day, although Yan Liqiang said nothing and did not express anything, Meng Hui became more respectful and loyal to Yan Liqiang. Although he was an officer of the Imperial Mabu Division, he was like Yan Liqiang's attendant, rushing to do the work of holding the horse's stirrups, naturally without any complaints. Instead, he seemed very happy. The other people in the team were no longer surprised when they saw this.
Yan Liqiang took a look and saw that the fish soup in the copper pot was the same color as milk. There were two fat big flower carps in it, and some green wild vegetables. Not to mention eating it, just smelling it and looking at the color of the fish soup made him feel hungry and drooling.
Yan Liqiang used the spoon beside the copper pot to gently scoop up a spoonful of the milky fish soup, put it to his mouth and blew gently, then drank it in one gulp. Then Yan Liqiang's eyes widened instantly. This delicious taste was simply indescribable. Fish, stream water, wild vegetables, and salt, a simple combination, cooked up an indescribable natural delicacy. The fish soup made by the chef of a five-star hotel in his previous life was nothing compared to this kind of fish soup, especially after being used to eating dried meat, rice noodles, and milk cakes along the way these days, eating this was the ultimate delicacy.
Yan Liqiang praised, "Well, not bad, not bad. I haven't had such delicious fish soup in a long time. It's even better than the fish soup in the river at home. By the way, what kind of fish is this and where did you get it?"
"Haha, sir, you didn't expect that this fish was caught in the creek behind the col. This fish is rare. This fish is called stone scale. It is not found in normal temperature water, only in water with higher temperature. The soup and meat of this stone scale are extremely delicious. We can eat it here before we get here. It's all because the place you chose for camping is good..." Meng Hui also laughed.
"Well, you said the stream was warm?"
"Yes, we just discovered that there should be a natural hot spring in the valley upstream of this stream. We can wash up there after dinner..."
"Do any other brothers have this fish soup?"
"Of course there are. They are still cooking in the big pots outside. The cooks and servants in the Deer Park have caught dozens of fish and prepared a bunch of wild vegetables. Yan Qing and Yan Hong went to the mountains and came back with a wild boar and an elk. We can have a feast tonight with fish soup and barbecue. When the venison is ready, I will bring it to you to taste..."
"That's good!" Yan Liqiang nodded. Just as he was about to drink another spoonful of fish soup, he suddenly remembered something and stopped. Then he picked up the copper pot again and handed it to Meng Hui, "I don't want to drink it anymore. You can give this to Wu Qinghe..."
"Sir, what are you doing?" Meng Hui looked at Yan Liqiang in surprise.
"It's not easy for a woman to take care of a child. She has been on the road these days and it's hard enough. The child is still in swaddling clothes and needs breastfeeding every day. This fish soup is just right for her..."
"Sir, I'll make you another pot!"
"No need, there aren't many outside, let everyone have a taste, go ahead!" Yan Liqiang waved his hand, "By the way, I'm meditating in the tent to recover, don't disturb me if nothing else!"
"Yes!" Meng Hui glanced at Yan Liqiang, said nothing, just nodded, and went out again with the copper pot...
Watching Meng Hui leave, Yan Liqiang sat quietly in the tent for a while, and then began to practice the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing.
These days, he has been seizing the time to practice on the road, slowly healing the hidden injuries on his body. When he was trying to snatch the worm, he was chased by Lin Qingtian and the Ghost King. Until now, his injuries have not completely healed. There is a sticky and cold force in Lin Qingtian's true energy, which penetrates into the bone marrow and internal organs, like a maggot on the tarsal bone, and is extremely difficult to resolve. He has been taking time to grind it out day by day in the past few days, and has only resolved a small part of it. This is also due to Yan Liqiang's unparalleled skills and the heaven-defying Yijin Xisui Jing to protect him. Yan Liqiang estimated that if it were an ordinary master, he would have died long ago after being injured by Lin Qingtian's true energy...
(End of this chapter)