The Rise of the Marquis

Chapter 28 Ma Ling's Army
On May [-], along with the rumors of the Marquis of Marquis, the news of sending troops spread throughout Maling City.

Many government officials rode horses through the crowd, telling people about Ma Linggong's orders, and the officials posted notices on the streets and at the entrance of the market to inform the news of the conscription.

Soon these news will be distributed layer by layer and spread in the local area. For a while, the whole Maling City is shrouded in a strange atmosphere.

As time passed, some people applauded, while more people fell into deep anxiety.

……

The moon is bright and the stars are sparse. After entering the foggy moon, the weather gradually becomes cloudy and cold. Most of the people's clothes are made of hard linen, which will harden after a long period of time without wearing them. They need to be pounded again to become soft and wearable.

As for the nobles, many people can wear silk as soft as clouds, light and thin to keep warm, but most of the silk still needs to be bought from Yizhou County and Hanzhong County in the Han Dynasty, which is expensive.

The second is the cotton padded clothes bought from the west. Although they are not as light and thin as silk, they are very effective in keeping warm, far better than linen.

However, the mysterious area in the west is also under the control of the Han Dynasty. About 30 years ago, the emperor of the Han Dynasty sent 30 troops, [-] civilians, [-] cattle, and [-] horses to march west. After more than ten battles, large and small, more than [-] countries in the Western Regions were raided and pacified after two years.

Since then, the exotic treasures in the west, fine wine, fruits and vegetables, and cotton clothes have become the hottest items in the eastern countries, and the nobles of the eastern countries are most fond of them.

It's just that for ordinary people, those are still too far away, but with the issuance of the conscription order, the immediate predicament is real.

The village outside Maling City is more than [-] miles south of Maling City. At the head of the village is a patch of willows, and the world on both sides is a piece of withered yellow. Chirping wild birds are playing in the fields. Some people hide behind haystacks and want to catch birds. But it's never easy at night.

In the distant villages, every family used to go to bed early, but now there are some sparse and weak lights, because this is not destined to be an ordinary night.

"The official sent to arrest people, I'll take you there." In the small courtyard at the head of the village, a family sat around, and the night light was not enough to provide lighting, so they lit precious candles, which also made the atmosphere different from the past, and was extraordinarily dignified.

The father, who was over half a century old, said to his young son: "You just got married not long ago, and the family can't do without you. Anyway, I can't live for a few years when I am older, and I eat less. I bring less food at home. Save as much as you can. "

"Father, you can't go." The son showed an unbearable expression: "If you go to war at such an age, let alone Heyang people, you must first be bullied by your own people, and then there is no father who suffers on behalf of your son. I can't bear it.

This time I will go anyway, we Maling and Heyin have so many people, each of us can drown the thieves in Heyang with a spit, don't worry, I will be back in at least thirty to fifty days, at most half a year. "The son swore a promise.

Unexpectedly, my father became angry, and reprimanded angrily: "You know what a fart! Who can tell about the war.

Six years ago, when I fought against the monkeys in Zhongshan, I said it well at the beginning. Didn’t I say that I was [-]% sure, and I could kill all the monkeys in Zhongshan in [-] to [-] days? That’s what the recruiter said. , Your elder brother said the same thing, but he died in Liangshan Pass after going there for more than ten days.

They arrested your third brother again, and after a year your third brother also died, and you are the only child left in the family!
If anything happens to you again, our family will have no children and grandchildren. How can we explain to our ancestors that I will not be scolded to death by your grandfather, your great ancestor? You know what! "

The more the old man talked, the more excited he became: "Beating and beating, everyone is dead. What good are we ordinary people? Isn't it just to work hard with a stick, and if you are lucky, you can come back and wield a hoe. The credit is all due to those big men
Don't be stupid, work your life for that little thing, don't care what the Heyang people did to make the government unhappy, we don't have to really work hard, those are the affairs of the nobles. "

"Father, that's also our Ma Ling's business."

"You regard Ma Ling as your own family, do they regard you as a Ma Ling man? What good can you do if you go all out? I heard that in the Han Dynasty in the west, even ordinary soldiers could become generals as long as they killed enough people. Here we are No matter how hard you work, a pariah will still be a pariah, a nobleman will still be a nobleman, what are you doing!" the old man scolded excitedly.

Now the young son stopped talking.

"That's it. I'm going to fight. There's nothing to worry about at this age. You take good care of your wife and your mother at home. Nothing else matters."

The peaceful small village has gradually returned to its former peace. Among the countless families, many people have made choices.

For Zhao Guo, such a thing is not an exception.
The gathering speed of the Ma Ling army was not fast, and it was dawdling until around the 73th day of the Brumaire, when troops conscripted from various places converged in the west of Maling City. , after the Heyin army of more than 500 people arrived in the west of Maling City to meet up, an army of 8000 people has gathered in the west of the city.

However, only about [-] of these troops are well-equipped Mu Clan and his nobles' relatives, and the remaining [-] or so soldiers gathered from various places and brought their own weapons and equipment. They are uneven, no matter whether they are equipped or trained.

Fights and fights and even soldiers running away often happened. Fortunately, there were Mu's soldiers to maintain order. The well-equipped soldiers on tall horses hunted down those soldiers who escaped and fought, and executed a few people to deter the rest. order.

Two days later, Duke Ma Ling went out to inspect the army in person. He led the army with his fourth son Zhao Zhiyong, and the former general commanded the army.

The witch was ordered to do divination. The witch used the turtle shell to ask for blessings from the sky, and then asked the Lord of the Mountains with a cow body and a human face for blessings, and prayed to tell the result of the war. After that, the witch came to a conclusion-good luck!This dispatch of troops is bound to win, and they will defeat Heyang before the end of the foggy month.

Wearing a witch's robe, Duke Ma Ling took the tortoise shell from the witch, raised his head high, and loudly announced the result to the three armies.

Many generals and soldiers cheered, and then slaughtered the yellow dog, white horse, black cow, and a Congren slave, and sacrificed their blood to the military flag, completing all the ceremonies before the expedition.

Afterwards, in front of everyone, on the general platform, Ma Linggong Mu Sheng personally handed over his tiger charm and the other half of the tiger charm given to him by the monarch to his favorite fourth son, and told him: "The king of Lingshan The Lord has given the omen, and you will come back with Wang Jian's head before the end of the Brumaire."

"Don't worry dad, I will never let you down!"

(End of this chapter)