Li Er of the Tang Dynasty: Ancestor Xie is here!

Chapter 141: A cigarette in an isolated city, a city full of white-haired soldiers
After everyone's persuasion, the old man finally gave up the idea of ​​letting his grandson join the army.

He left with his disappointed grandson, his back looking unspeakably desolate.

Looking at the backs of the two of them, Yang De sighed and called on his comrades to continue moving forward.

The Anxi Army has reached its end, so why bother hurting innocent people?

"It's the last night, don't slack off!" At night, Yang De told the sentinels keeping watch.

Under Li Qing's arrangement, the camp arranged a group of open sentries, a group of concealed sentries, and two groups of mobile sentries to guard before and after midnight.

"I didn't expect that my dear brother also has a lot of experience in marching?" Li Shimin was really impressed by Li Qing.

"You're looking down on me, aren't you?" Li Qing chuckled: "I still have a lot of experience in talking about war on paper."

"Hahahaha... It's a pity that you came at the wrong time. If it had been 20 years earlier..."

Li Shimin seemed to have thought of something and suddenly stopped talking.

He looked forward with flickering eyes, and after a while he sighed softly.

"If we had never raised an army, he and I would have been such good brothers..."

Before Li Qing could comfort him, Li Shimin walked out on his own.

"But every time I think about killing that bitch Yuanji, the sadness in my heart is always diluted a lot."

Li Qing:  …

Indeed, Li Yuanji's temperament was like potato starch but could not be thickened. Not to mention Li Shimin, even Li Qing wanted to chop him with a knife.

When I was in school, I was most annoyed by people like this.

"Then you have to thank Jingde. If it weren't for Jingde, I'm afraid you would be in trouble." Li Qing reached out and patted Li Shimin on the shoulder.

"You're right." Li Shimin raised the water bag in his hand and gestured towards Yuchi Gong.

Yuchi Gong laughed and didn't take this matter to heart.

"Should I say it or not, You are much more interesting than Sima Zhao, Brother Li." Li Qing said with a smile.

"Fuck you! Miss me, Li... How could Erfeng, a good man, be reduced to being compared to the rats of the Sima family?"

Li Shimin became anxious all of a sudden and even almost said his real name out of his mouth. Fortunately, he suppressed it in time.

But then again, if a promising emperor is compared with the rats of the Sima family, Li Shimin's relationship would be considered unbreakable even if Li Shimin didn't punch him in the eye.

Would you like to try someone else?
Dare you talk to me like this? Your head is wholesale?
If it were Lao Zhu, the painting style would change again.

Dare you talk to me like this? Are your Nine Clans wholesale?

After dinner, Li Qing stood on the hill and let himself go, while yodeling and screaming.

"How did you learn how to bray like a donkey?" Li Shimin looked towards Li Qing in the tent and smiled at Yuchi Gong.

Yuchi Gong puffed out and sprayed water all over the tent.

Not to mention that he didn't think so, and he even thought it sounded a bit nice. But after Li Shimin said this, he suddenly felt that Li Qing was imitating the braying of a donkey.

Li Qingzheng was singing so selflessly that a burst of howling suddenly came. He couldn't help but shiver. When he lowered his head, he saw that he was surrounded by green eyes at some point.

It's a pack of wolves.

He screamed strangely and ran down the hill.

"There are wolves!" He warned loudly: "Get up! Get up, there are wolves!"

Hearing Li Qing's shout, the sentry also struck the gong next to him.Everyone who heard the sound quickly picked up their weapons and rushed out, surrounding the wounded soldiers' tents in the center.

The wounded soldiers in the tents also have weapons. Generally speaking, there is not much problem in dealing with the wolves that occasionally rush in.

The wolves were very patient. They just howled around the camp and seemed to have no desire to attack.

"Brother, I asked you to imitate the braying of a donkey and attract the wolves, right?" Li Shimin's words were somewhat gloating. He did not feel that these wolves were a threat.

Li Qing gave him a vicious look and said nothing.

It's still the middle of the night, so it's not an option to waste it like this.Everyone was tired after a battle during the day, and now that the wolves were watching eagerly outside, their spirits were tense again.

"These beasts are quite smart." Wang Erhan spat out a mouthful of saliva and cursed in a low voice.

"They seem to know that we are tired, so they are not in a hurry to attack. They just want to seize the moment when we are tired and pounce on us." Yang De seems to know the habits of wolves very well.

"This is not the way to go, Captain." Wang Erhan said in a low voice, "Brothers are all tired."

"See if I can catch up with the wolves, kill them or feed them." Yang De looked back at Wang Erhan, "I'm just talking useless nonsense, so why don't I know? "

Wang Erhan grinned and did not continue to speak.

Good guy, if you can't solve the problem, let's solve the person who raised the problem first, right?

The confrontation between the two sides lasted for about half an hour. Just when Tang Jun was about to lose his energy, a howl suddenly came from the wolves.At the same time, the sound of horse hooves and shouts of death were heard not far away.

In the eyes of everyone, a black-clad team appeared on the other side of the hill, walking towards this side with torches in their hands.

The wolves suddenly turned around and charged at the men in black.

The people in black obviously didn't expect that there were wolves here. By the time they discovered it, it was already too late, and the wolves had already rushed in front of them.

Everyone looked at each other in confusion as they watched the wolves and the man in black suddenly appear in a bitter fight.

"Is this... two groups of thieves putting their hands into the same pocket?" Yang De said in shock, holding a steel gun in his hand.

"It should be... right?" Yu Chigong's tone was hesitant.

I have never seen such a scene in my whole life...

Everyone's nerves were not as tense as before. They sat half of the time and stood half of the time, taking turns to recover their strength.

The fight lasted for more than half an hour, and the winner was gradually determined. The man in black was completely defeated, leaving behind a pile of corpses and running away, leaving only the wolves that had lost most of their lives in place, leaving behind a creepy chewing sound.

The Wolf King let out a low whimper again, and the wolves dragged the bodies of the man in black and the horse and disappeared from everyone's sight.

Li Qing winked at the astonished Li Shimin and Yuchi Gong, hiding his merit and fame.

"Go to sleep, they have retreated." Li Qingru reassured everyone.

As soon as Li Qing said these words, Li Shimin and Yuchi Gong looked at each other and went to sleep in the tent.

The next day, everyone got up early and continued on their way.

We are about to reach Kucha in victory, but we don’t dare to relax.

"The sun is quite bright today." Wang Erhan took off his helmet and poured out the sweat inside.

"Who says it's not?" Li Qing stretched out his sleeves and wiped his face carelessly. If it was cold, he could wear clothes, but it was hot...

There were so many bugs on the grassland that he didn't dare to take them off.It's not a big deal to get a few bites from mosquitoes, but the problem is that mosquitoes are infested in this area.

"Commander, look!" the veteran soldier in front of Wang Erhan said loudly, pointing forward.

Li Qing put up a pergola with his hands and looked up, seeing a group of herdsmen.

Not daring to be careless, Yang De ordered to prepare for the battle.

As a result, the herdsmen stopped moving forward when they came closer.

"Is yours from Tang Jun Anxi?"

This accent sounds full of the flavor of mutton kebabs.

"They are Uighurs." Wang Erhan seemed to be talking to himself.

"These cattle and sheep, there are many to choose from, and they are all working for the army." The Uighur herdsman pointed at the cattle and sheep in front of him, speaking in unskilled Central Plains Mandarin.

"Thank you for your kindness, but I can't accept it." Yang De said loudly, stabbed the spear on the ground, and saluted the herdsmen with his crossed hands.

The leader of the herdsmen immediately said: "Hey, these many cattle and sheep are for the Tang army Anxi; Datang, Uighur, is uncle and nephew! Anxi is the son of Datang, so Anxi and Uighur are brothers!"

Knowing that Yang De would not want it, the herdsmen didn't say much, and drove nearly half of the cattle and sheep to the Tang army, imitating Yang De's half-baked hand-crossing ceremony.

"Brothers should help each other a lot." The herdsman said with his hand: "The Tubo dogs will be killed a lot, but we will give a lot of cattle and sheep."

After saying that, the herdsman turned his horse's head, waved his hand gracefully, and headed into the distance.

When Li Qing and the others first encountered this group of Tang troops, they had only seven or eight carriages.Now Li Qing looked back and saw that there were nearly twenty carriages, with either food, grass or military equipment on them.Now nearly a hundred more cattle and sheep have been added, forming a huge team.

According to Yang De, even if the provisions in the carriages were bought before, only two of them were actually bought with money, or they forcibly left a sum of money; the rest were basically bought by businessmen or villagers along the way. It was raised and given to them for free.

The people's support is available, but the court is incompetent.

"Then why did the Uighur herdsmen give cattle and sheep to the Tang army?" Yu Chigong asked in confusion.

If the boss has any questions, he will ask them for help. This is my philosophy of life. "Not only are we from the Tang Dynasty, but even the Uighur herdsmen cannot bear the Tubo harassment." Yang De got on his horse and drove the cattle and sheep skillfully with a long spear: "We, the Anxi Army, are the main force fighting the Tubo. In their eyes, we and the Uighurs There’s not much difference between our own people.”

"That's it." Yuchi Gong nodded, agreeing with this statement.

Near noon, the team suddenly became commotion.

"Almost there!" Wang Erhan was refreshed. He took off his helmet again, poured out the sweat inside, and then stopped wearing it.

Li Shimin and Yu Chigong looked at each other, their hearts full of expectation.

In their opinion, the experience of Anxi Protectorate was too legendary.The lone army has been stationed in the Western Region for more than 20 years (they thought it started in the first year of Jianzhong), and it can still make the Tubo people fearful and the Uighur people love it. I really wish I could fly over and meet them.

Soon, a slightly dilapidated city appeared on the horizon. This city seemed to have not been properly repaired for a long time. From a distance, you can see its desolation and dilapidation.After getting closer, we could see the traces of exhausting battles on the city wall. The scarlet flags on both sides of the city gate tower fluttered in the wind, with a large Chinese character "Tang" embroidered on them.

Above the city gate, there are two large Chinese characters written on it.

Kucha.

Yang De immediately urged his horse forward to reveal his identity.

After a moment, the city gate opened immediately, and Yang De waved his hand behind him, letting everyone in.

Following the troops entering the city, Li Qing was also observing from left to right.Although the city walls are dilapidated, the inside of the city is still clean and seems not to have been affected by the war at all.

After passing the city gate, the keen Li Qing discovered that the spear heads in the soldiers' hands were almost worn away.Some of them had even been completely worn off, and they only had a sharpened gun shaft to serve as a spear.

He stretched out his elbow to touch Li Shimin, who also discovered the problem.

Similarly, there were Mo Dao held in the hands of several soldiers. The sun flashed, and although the cold light was still dazzling, it could not hide the mottled gaps on it.

But this did not affect their spirit. The soldiers still stood as straight and straight as pines and cypresses. Years of war had already beaten their will as hard as steel.

"Such capable soldiers can be called an iron army. No wonder the Anxi Protectorate can hold on for decades." Li Shimin couldn't help but sigh to Li Qing.

After learning about the help from Li Qing and his party, the three of them were immediately invited into Guo Xin's Anxi Protectorate.

Inside the Protectorate.

"I, Guo Xin, represent the 210 people in the Anxi Protectorate. I would like to thank three righteous men for their help!"

Guo Xin, the king of Wuwei County, had no airs about being a county king. He faced Li Shimin and the three of them and bowed respectfully with his hands crossed.

"The prince does not need to be polite." Li Shimin immediately supported Guo Xin.

Before meeting Guo Xin, he had sketched his image countless times in his mind, but he never expected that the Guo Xin in front of him turned out to be an old white-headed general.

"I wonder who the prince and Guo Fenyang are..." Lao Li asked.

At least he had heard of Guo Ziyi's name from Li Qing. For such a loyal minister, Lao Li wished he could have his name written down in his robe.

"Guo Fenyang is my uncle." Guo Xin replied seriously.

When Lao Li heard this, he was in awe.

He couldn't help but sigh in his heart, the Guo family is really full of loyal people.

Guo Ziyi is guarding the sky above, and Guo Xin's lone army is stationed at the Anxi Protectorate...

"We have nothing to offer as reward. We only have thirty catties of gold to reward the brave men..."

Li Shimin immediately interrupted Guo Xin unhappily: "Who does the prince think we are? Is it because he is greedy for this little money that he helped Yang De and others return to Qiuci?"

"Li Yishi is indeed a man of good temperament." Guo Xin smiled. People in the military would not be hypocritically polite. Of course he could see that Li Shimin was sincere.

Seeing that the three of them were eager to leave, he said again: "I have asked people to feed the horses. You three should have a meal before leaving."

"I won't bother you until I have something important to do." Li Shimin crossed his hands and said.

Now all he wants to do is to go back to code people and lead the Anxi Protectorate to regain its glory.

Guo Xin pondered for a moment, seeming embarrassed to speak.It took him a long time to make up his mind and finally said: "We still have something to ask for..."

It was already a good idea to escort the convoy back to Qiuci, but now Guo Xin thought that making another request was too much.

But there was no other way. For the sake of the soldiers, I had to bring it up even if it cost me face.

"The prince said it's okay." Old Li Yi Qian Yun Tiandi patted his chest.

"We came to Anxi and have been away from home for more than forty years." Guo Xin lowered his eyebrows and sighed, "There is no news from home, so I asked three righteous men to bring our family letters back to the Central Plains."

Duyun joined the army at the age of fifteen and returned home at the age of eighty.When meeting people from the countryside, there was that person at home... But they couldn't even hope to leave Kucha City, let alone go home to see him.

Li Shimin couldn't help being surprised.

He originally thought that the Anxi Army had only been in the Western Region for 20 years, but he never expected that it would be more than [-] years.

Without any hesitation, he immediately agreed to what Guo Xin asked for.

After hearing that the three martyrs had taken over the task of delivering family letters to the Anxi Army, all the troops came to the commander's house carrying thick family letters that had been prepared for many years.

In front of the Commander's Mansion, all the troops took off their helmets and paid their highest respect to Li Qing and the others.

Lao Li, who had well-developed tear ducts, finally burst into tears looking at the man in front of him.

The northwest has been trapped for forty years, and the city is full of white-haired soldiers...

Everywhere you look, there are white hairs.

Even Yu Chigong, a tough guy, couldn't stop crying.Li Qing was the same, constantly wiping his tears with his sleeves.

China has attached great importance to nostalgia since ancient times. Du Fu once said, "The flames of war last for three months, and letters from home are worth ten thousand gold." What's more, their family's letters were not saved for three months, but for more than 40 years!

The soldiers thought they would never hear from their families again in this life, but they never expected that someone would be able to help them send letters home.

Even if there is only a glimmer of hope, they are willing to give it a try.

Unable to withstand the enthusiasm of the troops to persuade them to stay, Li Qing and the other three had no choice but to have lunch at the Commander's Mansion.

In the afternoon, the three of them took a thick letter home and said goodbye to Guo Xin.

"Please!" Guo Xin bent down and bowed deeply to the three of them.

With Guo Xin taking the lead, everyone bowed and saluted the three of them.

Li Qing quickly helped Guo Xin up. He felt sorry for such an old man's salute.

After all, he is not Li Shimin, but Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, so he is naturally qualified to receive it.

"Don't worry, it's not just a letter from home." Li Shimin gave Guo Xin a deep look: "Believe me, I will bring you with me to take you back to Chang'an."

Guo Xin smiled.

He reached out and punched Li Shimin on the chest and said to him: "Okay, then I will wait for this day."

Li Shimin looked around for the last time, as if he wanted to keep these lonely heroes in his heart.

He urged his horse to get off, and headed out of the city with Li Qing.

Guo Xin and the other troops watched Li Qing and the others drift away until their backs could no longer be seen clearly.

After a while, Yang De suddenly spoke up.

"Boss, do you think the sun is far away or Chang'an is far away?"

Guo Xin was stunned suddenly. He remembered that when Yang De, who was still his own soldier at the time, had just arrived at the Anxi Protectorate from Chang'an, he had asked him the same question with a smile.

"Boss, do you think the sun is far away or Chang'an is far away?"

"What do you say?"

At that time, I was so majestic and heroic, and I was full of ambitions to surpass my uncle Guo Ziyi and make great achievements in Anxi.

"Of course the sun is further away. After all, we are all soldiers from Chang'an."

Young Yang De bared his white teeth, scratched his head and said with a smile.

Guo Xin suddenly came back to her senses and asked as before: "What do you think?"

"If you ask me, of course Chang'an is further away."

Yang De took off his helmet and put it under his arm.

"Oh why?"

Guo Xin raised her eyebrows and looked at Yang De. Over the past few decades, not only the voice and smile have changed, but also the answer has changed?
Who knew that the next sentence would make Guo Xin shed tears uncontrollably.

"Because I can see the sun when I look up, but I can't see Chang'an..."

(End of this chapter)