And in the Tianping Army (Yun Caopu Town) in Henan Province, in Yuncheng, the capital of Yunzhou. At the time when he was young and strong, he became more and more showy in the city and his graceful temperament. Cao Xiang also dressed neatly with the help of a wife and a concubine, and carefully arranged every fold on his body in front of the huge bronze mirror. The nail wipes are particularly bright.
As for the figure reflected and reflected in his faintly yellow specular luster, Cao Xiang only felt familiar and unfamiliar. At this moment, he seemed to have just had an exceptionally long dream, and finally it was time for this dream to end.
He squeezed his wife's slightly rough hand, and gave the concubine room a look of encouragement and comfort. In the end, he didn't say anything. He opened the curtain of the inner room and opened the door of the outer room. The bitter cold air flowing back in, and the reflection of the shimmering armor and the shimmering of the swords and soldiers in the rows of guards under the porch.
And with the appearance of Cao Xiang, these armored soldiers also turned sideways, hula la, bowed and bowed in salute in awe; then followed Cao Xiang waved his hand, stood up and followed closely. Behind the figure that he strode out,
And while passing through the courtyards, porches, archways, and passages that were also waiting for the armored soldiers, they also converged into a metal-colored current that grew stronger and thicker. And when he finally passed through the vestibule of Yacheng and arrived on the school field outside the main gate, there were more sergeants with helmets and armour waiting.
It's just that compared to these squadrons surrounded by Cao Xiang wearing vermillion cloak and bright light armor, they still remain silent and only breathe out the smoke-filled tooth soldiers and ya internal soldiers; these sergeants of the balance, who are violently outside, appear a little noisy and noisy. Constantly, and they don't have the sword and bow strength they usually use on duty.
Just like this, standing in clusters in the cold wind with bare hands, crowded the empty campus in the city. It wasn't until the moment that I saw Cao Xiang appear that it seemed to throw a large chunk of ice and snow into the boiling pan, and gradually stopped the low buzzing uproar, until it became silent.
Looking at this scene, looking at the eagerly eager faces and different gazes, Cao Xiang's thoughts and words all seemed to disappear suddenly at this moment. What is left is the lack of important affairs in my heart and the indescribable nostalgia.
After all, with the support and obedience of these armored men, where is the world so large and authoritative, why bother to succumb to others and accept the unpredictable destiny and future? However, the next moment, because the left and right waited a little impatiently, the light of the knife that began to shake slightly flickered, which made him calm and wake up quickly.
After all, today's Tianping Army is really unsustainable. Although he still has these seemingly strong soldiers, as well as the grain, grass and armor stored in the warehouse; but since he took over the Tianping Army, he has been fighting for years and has exhausted the potential civilian and material resources of the four states. The population is dying and the land is barren.
If it weren't for relying on the territory of the capital, and maintaining mutual access and supplementation with the Shannan Dongdao, which was owned by the Taiping Army, it would be famine early. And in order to maintain the current situation, the things he experienced before and after returning to the Tianping Army were enough to make him physically and mentally exhausted and he did not want to continue to work hard.
Of course, he can rely on his personal bravery and family strategy to defeat the invaders from Hebei again and again and even eat in the enemy's territory; but there is no way to regenerate food from the deserted land in the fire, and there is not enough. The ability to let the people who fled to the city again and again to avoid misfortune and fleeing would no longer be hungry and crying.
What's more, if the trend of the general trend today is very clear, if he is greedy for the last bit of power and is attached to it, he may not have to make enough correspondence from Chang'an. Under the internal and external difficulties, the soldiers who are desperate will have nothing. He did not hesitate to use his and the Cao family's wealth to send a wave of fame to the new dynasty.
After all, with the continuous exchanges over the past few years, we have eliminated those who were apparently invited from the south to arrange to help and assist ourselves; in private, I still don’t know how many soldiers have been attracted and infiltrated by the other party. Or is it simply to directly cast the effect and attach to the other party in the dark, and just wait for an opportunity to show loyalty
At the next moment, I saw Cao Xiang with the greatest strength and determination, and shouted at the sergeant who was shaking his head and whispering because of waiting in silence below:
"All the soldiers listen to the order! Follow me to line up outside the city and welcome the messenger from Chang'an..."
Cao Xiang's words were then repeated over and over again by the generals around him, spreading in all directions, and then turned into a covetous and different expression on the bottom; some were relieved, some were ashamed, some were insensitive, and some followed the crowd. ; There are also people dancing with joy and joy
But after a thousand words of discussion by the soldiers present, they finally slowly converged into a repetitive voice:
"Just follow orders"
"Really!"
"promise.."
At this point, Cao Xiang also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and moved away from the palm on the hilt of the sword. He also stopped the tooth soldiers who were loyal to him and had already given a death order. Deeds and misses. At least there is no need to bleed one more time.
According to his worst plan, he would just retreat to the tooth city and hold on for a while, or wait for an opportunity to rush out of the city under the escort of these tooth soldiers. Then, after meeting with the foreign aid who came to receive, he waited for the opportunity to oppose Miyagi. It's just that the civilians in the city will inevitably have to deal with disasters, and the degree of attention they can get will be greatly deducted.
After all, in this chaos and cleansing again, those with dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction, stubbornness, thinking about the past, or clinging to the past, not clever enough, have been in the bloodstream, filtered and eliminated in disguise. . Maybe there are some lucky fish slipping through the net or speculators on both ends of the first mouse, but they will not hurt the overall situation.
From this he also understood how heavy and cruel the phrase "Can you protect the people" before leaving. In this warring Northland, wanting to rely on personal or local strength to be able to protect one's own body and protect a corner is really a kind of extravagant hope and delusion.
In order to protect his relatives from annihilation, he needs to maintain an armed force that serves him in the name of the Tianping Army. In order to ensure that this armed force is faithful and reliable, he must do everything in his power to defend his territory and do his best to exploit the people. , To obtain sufficient rewards and munitions, and at the same time use iron fist and severe torture to control it.
However, in the face of famine and war, even the killing of chickens and eggs-style exploitation of the people would not be able to sustain them, so they had to go out and grab other people's turf and plunder other people's wealth, food, and grass. If you can't get it and you lose, you will inevitably suffer backlash from dissatisfied subordinates while losing your own defense and reliance.
As a result, a new round of military chaos and turmoil eventually evolved into a process of extermination of the dead, and soldiers who have repeatedly tried to overcome the benefits of fighting the chaos will become more greedy and hard to fill. This is undoubtedly the paradox and endless cycle that most of the military commanders in the world cannot get rid of and surpass.
However, at least there is a relationship with the Taiping Army, which is about to establish a new dynasty, and Cao Xiang can finally get rid of it, and hand over the chaos that has entered the deadlock cycle and the corresponding responsibilities together.
Half an hour later, at the west gate of Yuncheng, next to the mouth of the Wuzhang River, Cao Xiang, who led a team of troops and horses to greet each other with his bare hands, also bowed his knees in the snow without hesitation, and was led by Taiping Governor Mansion Lu Yan joined the army as a messenger, and some instructions from Chang'an were long overdue;
Following this, in addition to the eight garrison camps and four temporary battalions that have been completed and trained in Dugui Province, in addition to the fourth Lang general and Henan Yingtian ambassador Zhang Juyan personally, there is also a team full of dry food. A convoy of canned food, grease, firewood, and blankets. Several particularly conspicuous hills were piled up directly outside the west gate of Yuncheng.
Then, the soldiers of the Tianping Army who were queuing up to receive them, in a joyful atmosphere, they completed the most basic defenses almost indifferently and calmly. But Zhang Juyan, who looked thick and gray, grasped Cao Xiang's arm and said warmly:
"Don't worry, the king still praises what you did in the north. After that, it will be more useful to his generation."
"Thank you Wang Shangende, I can also lead my family to serve in Chang'an with peace of mind..."
After hearing this, Cao Xiang was relieved a lot and said quickly and modestly:
"You are wrong about this. The king's meaning is the banner of the Tianping Army. You still need to continue playing for a while..."
Zhang Juyan smiled slightly and said:
"The king is so trustworthy, why should he think of repaying?"
When Cao Xiang heard this, he became more cautious and asked:
"Since I came to defend the old place of Tianping, I was naturally not only to defend Hebei, but also to plan for future management; and the banner of the Tianping Army is more useful, but the period of time for you and I will be longer in Japan..."
Zhang Juyan smiled more cordially.
"Don't dare to be, please give me more advice in the future..."
Hearing this, the last stone in Cao Xiang's heart completely fell. As a survivor who had already been registered at the Taiping Army, he was not afraid of the fierce warfare on the battlefield. Useful, that is the greatest sorrow.
After all, whether you are the leader of the local military group of the Tianping Army or the contemporary head of the Cao clan; both public and private must strive for the opportunity to contribute to the new dynasty in order to continue the family’s inheritance or These followers who followed have won better conditions and treatment. (End of this chapter)