stubborn thief

Nanshan Temple on Phoenix Mountain in Xining is currently the Holy Land of the Three Religions in Hehuang.

There are Dharma Protector Hall and Maitreya Hall of Pure Land Buddhism, Zhenwu Hall and Feisheng Hall of Taoism. In the middle of the building complex, there are the largest Guandi Temple and the God of Wealth Temple in Hehuang.

Zhao Kechang offered a stick of incense to the four-legged bronze tripod in front of the Guandi Temple, and looked up at the statue of Guan Gong quietly for a long time after entering the temple.

This statue of Guan Gong was presided over by Liu Chengzu when he was the commander of the Xining Guard. It did not adopt the common folk image of the green robe outside, but wore a Han Dynasty sleeve sleeve armor for Guan.

As the brave general of the Marshal's Mansion, who assassinated the leader of Oirat's ally, Khan, under his horse, Zhao Keke, the chief executive of the Baibai, received proper medical treatment after the war. Mountain recuperation.

In addition, Liu Chengzong also sent four sergeants from the Bee Tail Department to take care of Zhao Chang's diet and daily life.

The only fly in the ointment is that Zhao Keke's wish to equip the severed hand with a three-eyed gun fell through.

Prosthetics are a very old business. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, due to the existence of corporal punishment, the prosthetic industry has become popular.

It is not difficult to make a prosthetic hand. Liu Chengzong asked the craftsmen of Baigong Bureau to make many prosthetic hands for Zhao Keke, not only the life-supporting prosthetic hands that can hold bowls and spoons, but also the prosthetic hands that are purely for decoration. .

But there was no prosthetic hand with a three-eyed gun.

"Master Guan bless you, this time we will send troops to Jiayuguan so that the younger generation will fight."

In just one year, it is not an exaggeration to say that Zhao Keke died twice, and these two lives also allowed him to change from a small management team in Yulin Town to General Zhaoyong in the Marshal's Mansion in the shortest time.

He has fulfilled ninety-nine percent of the military dreams of this era, beating the generals and capturing the flag, reaching the sky in one step.

During the period when he was recovering from his injuries, Liu Chengzong visited him seven times in person, and said many times that the blood that should be shed had already been shed, and all that remained in the future was to get married and have children to live a good life.

But Zhao Kechang didn't feel much gratitude to God for letting him recover his life from the bottom of his heart, he still wanted to go to the battlefield.

Not just for the pursuit of fame, Zhao Keke is a soldier with no ideals, he is not a farmer, or in this era in Yulin, there are not many farmers at all, generations of men live and die for war .

Liu Chengzong said that he has made great achievements, and he can lie on the merit book for a lifetime and enjoy the life that others dream of.

But Zhao Huachang didn't know at all that a big man lived in the world, what other decent ways of living and decent ways of death could there be besides the battlefield.

The military and battlefields that others can't avoid are the environment in which he has lived for generations. He has made great achievements, but he wants to jump out of his comfort zone and become a rich man... He is a little scared.

Looking at the mighty statue of Emperor Guan in the main hall, Zhao Kechang prayed devoutly to be able to return to the battlefield, even if he is not a general, he can be a general.

In fact, on the day Lanzhou fell, he asked someone to send a letter to Liu Chengzong, hoping that the commander-in-chief would grant him a general dispatch as General Zhaoyong.

There were footsteps coming from outside the hall, it was the sergeant who took care of daily life came in, excitedly said: "General Zhao, the handsome man has arrived at Hutai, he called us over."

The sergeants were of course excited, their military status was still in the headquarters of the Beetail needle... After the war, almost everyone in the headquarters of the Beetail needle was promoted to second-class merit, only a few ordinary soldiers remained.

But they are not fools or cowards, but real old lion soldiers, just because they dominated the battlefield and dismissed the general manager of the bee tail needle, and pushed the hundred general Zhao Keke to the general general, so they were punished after the war, and the merits and demerits were equalized.

Taking care of a crippled general is no merit at all. The four of them are all looking forward to Zhao Ke being able to receive a real award, and they will also benefit from it in the future.

The lion soldiers who followed Liu Chengzong with them in northern Shaanxi were all high or low in the Baizong or the management team, and there were only a few of them who were still ordinary soldiers.

Upon receiving the news of Liu Chengzong's summoning, Zhao Kehua was extremely excited, and immediately asked his entourage to fetch the best decorated artificial hand, and led four guards to Hutai.

Hutai is a tall general platform built in Xining, the capital of Nanliang during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. It is a nine-story earth mountain surrounded by open spaces and barracks for troops stationed in Nanliang. But Tiger Terrace survived.

When Zhao Kechang arrived at Hutai, Liu Chengzong was receiving Zhang Tianlin who came from Haixi County.

A cavalry battalion preparing to cross the Qilian Mountains and enter Gansu has been assembled and is conducting mountain training in Nanshan Fort; Chen Qindai, the magistrate of Haixi County, is mobilizing the eight Qilian Fanmin as a guide to investigate the defense of the Gansu Army on the other side of the mountain.

All kinds of rockets and artillery needed for this trip are also being transported to the sea from the Yaoshuihe Arsenal. Just wait for the Three Tribulations in Gansu to prepare for the war horses, donkeys and mules, and they can set off with a single order.

Liu Chengzong attached great importance to Zhang Tianlin's actions. This was their first large-scale military mobilization across the mountains, so naturally they had to be given higher authority.

Zhang Tianlin's official position was originally the third-class general Zhaoyong, who was dispatched to lead the left battalion of the field left brigade. Now the entire left battalion has been promoted to the vanguard brigade on the spot, and he is allowed to recruit and expand on his own after arriving in Gansu.

After the two talked about military affairs, Liu Chengzong heard a report from the guards saying that Zhao Keke had come.

Hearing this name, Liu Shizi had a headache, and he smiled wryly for a moment and said, "Let him come."

Seeing Liu Chengzong like this, Zhang Tianlin originally wanted to ask, but seeing that Liu Shishi had no intention of going into details, she had to give up and stood up to leave.

Liu Shizi couldn't say anything, he couldn't speak ill of the general who came after him to the direct line general.

There is no general who doesn't like a brave subordinate like Zhao Keke, and Liu Chengzong is no exception. During this period of time, he visited Zhao Keke more frequently than seeing his wife.

To put it bluntly, if there is any way to win over Zhao Hengchang, Liu Chengzong will do everything he can, give money if he likes it, and give whatever he likes. He even helped Zhao Hengchang talk about a marriage. With the girl from the Jing family.

But Zhao Kehua is not an ordinary person. For ordinary people, joining the army and fighting wars is a process, and prosperity and wealth are the goal.

Zhao Huachang is just the opposite. Prosperity and wealth are the process, and joining the army and fighting is the goal. In order to join the army and fight, you don't need to be rich and prosperous.

That's why Liu Shizi's head got dizzy when he heard this name. He felt that Zhao Buter was out of his mind.

To be precise, Zhao Hengchang didn't know what he wanted at all, but his life has always been like this, so he hopes to continue to be like this.

This matter is easy to solve if it is someone else. If you like to fight, we will go to fight, but Zhao Changchang's identity and the timing of his meritorious deeds are too coincidental. He is an officer who was wounded and captured in the Hehuang War At the time of the ministry, he made a final decision and stabbed Khan, the national teacher, under his horse.

The Marshal's Mansion has always educated the sergeants, telling the sergeants and soldiers that Ming's days are up, and the current problems cannot be solved, so the court must be overthrown, but the soldiers and the common people are brothers and sisters. Our purpose is to build a better world.

All the officers and soldiers turn their backs and surrender, then they are their own people, and if they come, they will be safe, and the Marshal's Mansion treats them equally.

Zhao Variable is a typical example who can't be found even with a lantern. If this example is set up, there will be countless Zhao Variable in the army in the future.

So Liu Chengzong didn't want Zhao Kechang to return to the front line of the battlefield. After finally finding such a typical example, the reward of a high-ranking official was rewarded.

There are too many such things, and there is a high probability that a brave general will die on the battlefield. Let alone Zhao Chang, Li Rusong, who led the army since he was a child and served on the Nine Sides, beat the Mongols like a game, entered North Korea and swept across the peninsula. In the end, he died in the hands of the Mongols on the battlefield.

Liu Chengzong needs a living Zhao Chang, who wants to get married and have children, live a good life, live a long life, and often come out to hang out.

But just this requirement is difficult for Zhao Hengchang to accept.

Fortunately, Zhuang Langwei's carrier sent a letter to Liu Shizi, letting him make arrangements for Zhao Changchang's whereabouts.

"Humble job Zhao Chang, meet the commander in chief!"

Seeing Zhao Keke signing up outside the handsome tent, Liu Chengzong stood up and welcomed him in: "Come on, I've been waiting for you for a long time, sit down."

Zhao Kechang was not in a hurry to sit down, he walked around the tent that belonged to the general army of Guyuan, and even jumped a bit, raising his left and right arms once, and said: "Commander, you have recovered from your low-ranking battle injuries, and you can return to the camp." gone."

Looking at Zhao Kechang's elation, Liu Chengzong looked worried. He knew Zhao Kechang's injury very well.

In the battle against Guoshi Khan, Zhao Kechang was wounded by two axes and seven arrows, and was kicked by a horse. The other injuries have indeed healed, but now there are still two places on his body that have not healed.

One is the fracture of the right forearm, the growth is basically healed, but because of the difficulty of wearing a prosthetic hand, the dressing needs to be suppurated; the other is the penetrating injury caused by a feathered arrow shooting at close range on the left thigh.

The arrow missed the vital point, and it passed through cleanly, so it was not difficult to deal with. In theory, the injury should have healed long ago.

But Zhao Keke thought it was too ugly to leave a hole in the wound, so the doctor specially made a special scalpel for him, which was a set of small iron rakes with round heads from big to small. A rake goes in to peel off the new meat, and it is sterilized with steamed high-alcohol and bandaged with medicine.

In fact, it doesn't make much sense whether to peel or not. The muscles have been damaged and cannot be healed. Leaving a small hole will not affect the normal use of the legs and feet, but you can't exert great strength.

This kind of continuous opening of the wound can indeed make the penetrating wound heal in the end, but the healed muscle is not a muscle, but a scar that is constantly injured and healed.

Liu Chengzong said: "It's good to be cured, but I can't let you lead troops to the battlefield again. I don't doubt your strength, I have to let you live."

The expectation and joy on Zhao Variable's face turned into disappointment, his eyes widened in disbelief, he stretched out his slightly trembling left hand and his motionless right hand, begging like a drowned man grasping the last straw: "Marshal, you can't... ...I am already like this, the commander-in-chief can't let me live like a useless cripple!"

"You are the hero of the commander-in-chief. How can you call it a disabled life? Even if you can't hold a weapon, you still have experience and insight. I have two arrangements. Just listen to it."

Liu Chengzong raised his finger and said, "First, if we win this battle, Hehuang will be the hinterland in the future, and you can be Hehuang's deputy commander in charge of recruiting and training troops, suppressing bandits and maintaining public security."

Zhao Kechang was a little moved, and he looked at Liu Chengzong with gratitude. The five towns are the township military system. This is an official position that General Zhaoyong or Captain Ningyuan can hold, which shows that the commander tried his best not to treat him as a disability.

"But I don't want you to do this. You must know the reason. If you win this battle, this is a job with little chance of meritorious service."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he changed the subject and asked, "Jing Xiaoliu from Dongguan, do you know?"

Zhao Changchang nodded, Dongguan General Manager Jing Xiaoliu is also a celebrity in the Marshal's Mansion, that guy is more famous than many generals, everyone knows that Jing Xiaoliu snatched the land of the Zhuanglangwei Banner Army and gave it to the Marshal's Mansion Back to a large amount of food and grass.

He asked: "I heard that General Jing is guarding the city at Zhuanglang, so he will become a general after this battle, right?

"Your news is well-informed." Liu Chengzong nodded, then shook his head, and said: "After two days of fighting, the follow-up reinforcements arrived to replace him. He was a potter in Yanchuan Jingjia Kiln, and he worked with me for four years. I originally planned to let him be a town general in Dongguan after this battle."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he put his hands on the table: "But this time, he has already written to me to resign."

"Please resign?"

Zhao Kechang was stunned, and then he was a little annoyed: "He has a bright future, why did he resign?"

I have lost my hand, and I am still trying to stay in the army, but Jing Xiaoliu, who is physically healthy, actually resigned!
"More than half of his subordinates were killed or injured. The soldiers he recruited from his family died. I can't stand it."

Liu Chengzong waved his hand: "I am sure. I have no experience in the past. The conscription and leadership must be separated and cannot be placed on one person."

"This... is a majestic man."

Zhao Kechang couldn't understand, so he spread his hands and said, "Marshal, none of us are good men and women when we come out to serve as soldiers. After eating this food, we all know that going to the battlefield is to kill people, either to kill or be killed, otherwise why are we raising knives and forming arrays?" Woolen cloth?"

Liu Chengzong did not speak.

Chengyun wrote him a letter just for this matter, the death and injury of his subordinates made Jing Xiaoliu almost collapsed, he didn't know how to face his subordinates' parents, wives and children in Dongguan, and wanted to resign and leave the army.

Chengyun thought of a place for him, so he wrote to tell Liu Chengzong that now that they have recruited troops, they have to keep up with the pension matters.

In the past, few people needed pensions. Many soldiers were single seedlings with registered permanent residence, and none of them received pensions when they died in battle. The Dongguan Minzhuang led by Jing Xiaoliu was the first army under the Marshal's Mansion to require pensions per capita.

Cheng Yun couldn't take care of one person alone, so he hoped to set up a subordinate department in the military office of the Liuya of the Marshal's Mansion.

"If you want, I want you to enter the military office."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, Zhao Chang was stupid. The military office of the marshal's mansion is the military department of the imperial court. He was born as a veteran. I dare not even think about entering the Ministry of War.

This time he showed timidity, he stammered and asked: "Master, Commander, I am entering the military department, no, I am entering the military office, why?"

"General Zhaoyong was appointed as the doctor of Fangqing officials in Hexi, and he was in charge of map closure, review of achievements, rewards and punishments, and brief review of military troops."

After Liu Chengzong finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Keke and said seriously: "You are a person who has been injured, and you will definitely pay more attention to rewards, punishments and pensions for sergeants than others."