The World of Yellow Sky

Chapter 838
The streets in Pingyuan City have been cleared. In order to guard against possible assassins, the gates of the squares and cities near the main road have been closed tightly, and there are many soldiers guarding the city.

The generals in the city watched their surroundings nervously to prevent any unexpected situations that might arise.

Pingyuan City is not big, following the main road, it took only a while to reach the government office of Pingyuan City.

The team stopped slowly in front of the plain city government office.

Although Qu Yi's face was as usual at this time, there was already a turbulent sea in his heart.

In addition to Lu Bu, he also saw a man wearing a second-rank military uniform and a lotus crown on his head. The man had a slightly dark complexion and a beard. Compared with Lu Bu's restrained appearance, he looked more Show some sharpness.

Not only that, the military officers who followed Xu An were all above the fifth rank, that is to say, all of them were at the first rank of general.

Among them are military officers of the third and fourth ranks.

In the Ming Dynasty, the third-rank military officers were only generals from all directions, front, back, left, and right, in addition to soldiers from all over the country.

And there are only sixteen fourth-rank military officers, that is, heavy-ranked generals.

The heavy-numbered generals are not full yet. When the country was founded, there were only twelve, and with his words, there were only thirteen.

Among them, Xu Huang was promoted to General Zuo because of his military exploits in Nanyang, and Lu Bu was named General Wei because he flattened the northern border and took down the Protectorate of Anbei.

Zhang Yan, Guo Tai, Gongsun Du, Yu Du, and Liu Shi are all the governors of a province now, and Zhao Zhi is the military commander of the Badong Military Region. The six of them cannot act in their own areas.

That is to say, apart from him, there are now a total of ten heavy-ranked generals in Ming Ting. Excluding the other six who cannot be tampered with, there are only four left.

But now there are four of them here, and all the heavy-numbered generals followed Xu An to gather in the plain.

Although Qu Yi had never served as a local official and had always been in command of the army, it did not mean that he did not understand the affairs of the court.

He understood what it meant to have so many senior generals from the Ming court appearing in the plain.

This is undoubtedly a sign that the Ming army is about to march south!
Qu Yi couldn't help but tighten his hand holding the rein.

It has been quiet for nearly two years. During these two years, Qu Yi has been working hard to train troops,

And now the opportunity for him to flex his muscles has finally arrived.

He now has the title of governor of Qingzhou for nothing, but he only occupies one state in Pingyuan County, which makes him quite uncomfortable.

While Qu Yi was still thinking about it, Xu An had already dismounted from his horse, and the surrounding generals also dismounted together.

Qu Yi was slightly taken aback, and then immediately got off his horse.

Xu An walked on the street, looked at the clean and tidy street, and nodded in satisfaction.

After entering the city, the streets are neat and there is no weird smell. The city is kept clean and the streets in the city have been repaired.

When entering the city, Xu An also noticed that a public toilet in the city had already been built.

You must know that last year, the Pingyuan City reported by the Eagle Wolf Guard still had a lot of ruins.

There is still an unpleasant smell floating on the street, and now these problems have been greatly improved.

Most of the plagues in the past dynasties were mostly caused by poor public health.

Within the jurisdiction of the Ming court, Xu An took measures of substituting work for relief and built a large number of public buildings.

In addition to schools and workshops, many public toilets have also been built.

Although China has begun to have the awareness of waste utilization, it has also begun to have the concept of collection.

But in many places, there is still no way to ban it. In order to solve this problem, Xu An allocated all the funds originally used for road construction and bridge construction to public facilities.

From public toilets to large public baths, there are also theaters, Taoist temples and other facilities.

Public toilets are completely free, and those who defecate indiscriminately will also be punished, and the punishment will be added according to the number of times, and there will be rewards for reporting.

By doing so, under the rule of the Ming court, the environment of the township and township has been greatly improved.

Among the public facilities, the theater solves the employment and living problems of those dancers, and the public baths also bring a certain amount of income.

The Taoist temple can receive a lot of incense money every day. After all, there are not so many exorbitant taxes. The people's life is much richer, and naturally they have more pursuits.

Not only the original four prefectures of the Ming Dynasty, Xu An also allocated a lot of money to build public facilities and recruit villagers in various places.

Xu An didn't blame Qu Yi for going out of the city to greet him. He was very satisfied with Qu Yi in every way.

Going out of the city to greet him with a respectful attitude, he could see that Qu Yi was sincere, and he seemed a little afraid of him.

Xu An slowed down a bit. He remembered that when he met Gongsun Du and Xu Rong before, their expressions were not right, and they seemed to be afraid of each other...

He could understand Qu Yi's fear, but Gongsun Du's fear had no reason at all.

Moreover, the little fear that Xu Rong showed also made Xu An feel strange. When he led his troops to defeat Dong Zhuo in Huayin and Xu Rong returned to him, he didn't see how much fear Xu Rong felt in his heart.

Xu An stopped beside the carriage. He already had some clues, but he was not thinking about it right now.

"Yan Gong, we have arrived at the plain."

Xu An walked up to the four-wheeled carriage, opened the door, and said to the inside of the carriage.

Qu Yi, who was following behind Xu An, narrowed his pupils and looked into the carriage.

In the carriage, there was an old man with white hair and wearing Taoist robes.

The old man's hair was completely white at the temples, but it was not messy at all, it was neatly combed.

Wearing a Yuqing Ruyi crown on his head, a Qingjuan Daoist robe, cloud shoes on his feet and clean socks on his feet, and a silk sash around his waist, he has extraordinary bearing in every gesture.

Although he is old, the occasional flashes of brilliance in his eyes make people dare not despise him in the slightest.

Those eyes seem to be able to see through people's hearts.

Qu Yi's mind instantly understood, and everything can be explained clearly, why Xu An rode a horse, but this person dared to ride a cart, and he used a five-horse cart, which is the gift of the princes.

Yan Zhong's current official position is the governor of Liangzhou, the chief assistant of the cabinet, the only great doctor in the Taiping Dao, and the head of all officials, how can he not be the honor of a prince?

A smile appeared on Yan Zhong's face, he noticed Qu Yi standing behind Xu An.

"Long time no see, General Qu."

Qu Yi didn't dare to neglect, he immediately bowed and saluted, and replied respectfully.

"The last general, Qu Yi, met Yan Gong, but he didn't expect Yan Gong to be able to remember him, and he was deeply honored."

"Free of courtesy, free of courtesy, I, Daming, am not a hypocrite, but I don't have so many false courtesy."

Yan Zhong waved his hand, signaling Qu Yi to be free.

Then Yan Zhong leaned against the armrest of the seat with his hands, and slowly stood up.

Xu An frowned slightly, but didn't say anything.

Yan Zhong's situation was much worse than that in Yecheng before. Originally, Yan Zhong got up from the carriage without leaning on the handrails at all.

Although there are four-wheeled carriages, the roads have been repaired, and a lot of cushions have been added to the carriages, but the exhaustion of the boats and carriages along the way still had a great impact on Yan Zhong.

Without rubber, it is impossible to make tires, and the spring technology is temporarily insufficient, and the shock absorption effect is poor, which also makes long-distance transportation a major problem.

Originally Xu An wanted Yan Zhong to stay in Chang'an City, but Yan Zhong was unwilling to recuperate in Taiye Pond.

Yan Zhong is very aware of his own situation, the hidden wounds left by him when he was young, and the overwork he suffered when he was in Taihang Mountain and Bingzhou made him continue to deteriorate now.

Although Hua Tuo is a famous doctor, there is still no good way to deal with it. He can only adjust slowly to relieve one or two.

In the past few years, he has been staying in Taiye Pond in Chang'an, and the place he has been to is only a hundred miles away.

Yan Zhong didn't need to manage politics and do things every day, so Yan Zhong felt more and more bored.

If it wasn't for the birth of Xu An's youngest son, which relieved Yan Zhong's boredom, and Xu An entrusted him with the important task of educating his son, he would have been unable to stay in Chang'an for a long time.

The biggest reason why Yan Zhong insisted on coming to Pingyuan this time was because he felt that his body was getting weaker day by day.

He didn't want to spend the rest of his life on the sickbed, what he wanted was to return to the battlefield and contribute another strength.

A man should die in the border fields, and his ears should be buried in a shroud of horse leather. How can he die on a sick bed?

"Master Ming, please go first."

Yan Zhong stepped off the carriage, his steps were fairly steady.

Xu An has always respected him well, but he did not rely on his elders to sell his elders because of this.

Xu An nodded, turned around and walked towards Fu Ya Nei, but slowed down as much as possible.

Yan Zhong didn't let anyone help him. Although he walked slowly, every step was very steady.

For thirteen years like a day, every step Yan Zhong took was one step at a time.

He traveled through Jizhou, Taihang Mountain, Shangdang County, Bingzhou, Liangzhou and Zhongzhou.

He has traveled thousands of miles across China, but he has never seen the scenery in the south. This time he wants to go to the south to see it himself.

Xu An and Yan Zhong followed each other, all the famous generals also slowed down, and so did Qu Yi.

The crowd followed Xu An and Yan Zhong into the government office of Pingyuan City.

Entering the Pingyuan City Government Office, above the lobby, everyone sat in ranks according to their official positions.

Xu An sat in the first seat, while Yan Zhong sat in the first seat on the left.

Zhang Ji, Governor of Yingwei Town, and Zhao Ji, Governor of Wolf Guard Town, sat on either side of Xu An's back.

Qu Yi's guess was correct, Xu An had already issued a summoning order, and the order was distributed to the generals of the Ming army in various places. Except for the generals with defensive tasks, all the rest were heading to the plains.

This time following Xu An into Pingyuan City, there are the champion Hou Lu Bu and the left general Xu Huang.

Generals He Man, Zhang Liao, Zhang Yang, and Ma Teng were all present.

Because of Zhang Liao's military exploits in the Western Regions, he was promoted from General Pingxi to General Zhengbei, replacing Lu Bu's previous position.

That is, Gong Du, the leader of the Central Committee who was originally based in Chang'an, followed Xu An to the plain this time.

In addition, Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Pound, Ma Chao and other fifth-rank generals also gathered in the plain.

Not only the important generals of the Ming court arrived, but almost all the elites of the Ming army gathered outside the city of Pingyuan.

The fourth battalion of military soldiers, the fourth battalion of sharp warriors, the camp of traps, and the yellow angels.

Xiaoqi, Xiliang, Shanggu, and Bingzhou's four battalions of cavalry, after reorganization and expansion, have a total of [-] troops.

Under the leadership of Xu Rong, the Youzhou Ming army went south to join forces with the poisonous Jizhou Ming army. The two sides combined [-] troops, of which [-] were cavalry recruited from Wuhuan, the three counties. .

Xu An has already determined the real main direction of attack.

That's why all the elite main forces were brought to Qingzhou.

But it is only June now, and there is no rush to attack. It will be time to attack when the weather is a little cooler when it is about to enter September.

After the autumn harvest, there is plenty of food and grass, and the cool weather is the best time to attack, and as long as they invade Qingzhou, the roads will be blocked after a long and cold winter, and the enemy's reinforcements will be difficult to support, and the transportation of resources will also be greatly improved. big hindrance.

However, the Ming army, which has a large number of sea-going ships, has no such worries. Winter is an advantage for them.

The most important point is that after Xu An captured Yizhou, he ordered the Eagle Wolf Guards to go to India to find cotton seeds. Two years ago, when Xu An led the army to march eastward, the cotton seeds were brought back.

Now cotton has taken root in the country of Ming Dynasty, developed and grown, and a piece of cotton cloth has also been woven.

This year's harvest will be better, and there will be more cotton cloth. In Yizhou and Zhongzhou, textile workshops have begun to improve cotton cloth.

There are still many winter clothes made of cotton cloth in Yecheng. After a while, winter will no longer be the enemy of the Ming army, but will become the best friend and help of the Ming army.

Xu An sat in the first seat, facing the generals in the hall, without beating around the bush.

"Before the land of Hebei was just established, the powerful families in the prefecture had different ideas, internal and external instability, the threat of the northern border has not been eliminated, and there is no strength to go south."

"But now, the public trial has passed, all the powerful families in Hebei have been cut off their wings, and their heads are in peace. The threat of northern Xinjiang has completely dissipated."

"The people are more peaceful, the food is more sufficient, the soldiers are more refined, and they control the strings and stick their arrows. Looking at our people in China, there has been no peace for a long time, they have suffered a lot, their lives are difficult, and they feel deeply guilty."

Xu An stood up and looked down at the generals in the hall.

"You are all generals of my Ming Dynasty. I summoned you here to conquer the Han court in the south."

"The purpose of this expedition is to destroy the Han Dynasty, recover the Southern Regions, and unify the Xias!"

Xu An's eyes swept over Gong Du, He Man and other former Taiping Dao generals.

"I asked a question once."

"Why can he, the emperor of the Liu family, sit on that high palace? We, the common people of Shengdou, are not even as good as ants on the ground in his heart."

"Why is it so difficult for us to just want to live, but they can do their best and let the grain and dried meat in the warehouse rot."

"This question now has an answer in my heart..."

Xu An pressed the Yanling knife on his waist, watched the generals in the hall, and said with emotion.

"Although the road ahead is difficult, Huang Tian is right in front of us, marking the direction for us and paving the way for us."

"Yellow sky will surely shine on this world, just like the sun that has been hanging high above the sky since ancient times, it will never change!"

"Everyone!"

"This is the time to make great achievements, to live forever, and to be famous in history. The age of Huang Tian will surely come!"

(End of this chapter)