Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 3 - 58

Han Ningshuang hadn't fired for five days, and Wang Xuansu was in charge of all matters concerning the Han army in Suzhou.Wanyan Zongbi asked to see him many times, but was not allowed.The generals of the Han army thought she was doing this intentionally, so they all understood, and they didn't pay any ardent visits, lest the eldest lady pretend to be sick and embarrass her.Because Zhao Xingde was about to leave Guannan, he deliberately used the excuse of visiting a doctor, and prepared to bid farewell to Miss Han face to face with the blueprint of the artillery emplacement that had been arranged in recent days.

After the maid Si Nantong passed by, Han Ningshuang immediately heard that Zhao Xingde stepped into the inner tent and smelled the fragrance of medicine.When I looked up, I was even more surprised.Unexpectedly, Miss Han was really sick.Han Ningshuang was wearing a grizzly bear fur cloak, as if wrapped in a thick quilt, her face was burning red, and her eyes dimmed a lot.

Sinan tried her forehead with the back of his hand, and 'touched' her body, feeling hot. He couldn't help worrying: "I have taken the 'medicine' according to the doctor's instructions, and I also sweated at night, why is it still not getting better?" Woolen cloth?"

The little maid was worried, but Han Ningshuang persuaded her, "Illness disappears like a thread. Whenever you have a fever and a headache, it will take seven or eight days." She spoke with a stuffy nose, and said to Zhao Xingde, "Let Mr. Zhao I'm laughing at you." Tried to sit upright, smiled slightly: "No one except Wang Xuansu knows about this illness, until now, the only one who really came to visit him is Mr." At this time, she was secretly a little annoyed, with this look When meeting Zhao Xingde, he felt haggard.She put her hand on her forehead, frowned slightly, and then thought of "Fortunately, it's not the ghostly appearance of tears and snot running down the nose a few days ago, and plasters and medicines on the temples." Only then did she feel a little relieved, and she calmed down a little. , staring at Xingde.

"General Wang is also quite responsible for acting as an agent of military affairs. Why does Miss Han bother to work so hard?" Zhao Xingde said, looking at the books spread out on the desk.It was a matter reported by the Han army from various places in Eastern Liaodong, and it was circled with a red pen, and the ink marks were still fresh. Thinking about it, she has been reviewing military documents for the past few days. No wonder all the generals in the Han army thought that Han Ningshuang was just complaining about illness.

"I want to steal this laziness, but I can't." Han Ningshuang said with a wry smile, "Xia Guoxiong looks at the world, and entrusts all important matters to the five houses. Your Majesty still reads various memorials every day. Tens of thousands of words. Liaodong is a hundred wastes." How dare I slack off a little while I am waiting. The subordinates may be loyal, but people are not sages, and there is always a negligence. It is always good for someone to read these things again."

"Having said that, since you are sick, you should rest in peace."

A rosy 'color' appeared on Han Ningshuang's cheeks, she was silent for a moment, and sighed quietly: "How can the world be as you wish." She felt a slight headache, rubbed her forehead with her hands, and continued, "When I am old When I was still young, my uncles and uncles in the Han army and the Wanyan tribe were all kind to me, but I was always panicked every day, like a chess piece, always being led away involuntarily. Until later, I have become more sensible, and with the dedicated assistance of Wang Da and the others, as well as my loyal subordinates, I gradually feel at ease these days. However, even so, there are still many things that I can't help myself."

Han Ningshuang talked for a while, exhausted a lot of energy, closed her eyes for a moment, then said again: "Mr. The ability to overcome all opinions and insist on going his own way. Later, because of the murder of Han'er in Shenzhou, he disobeyed Mr. Zhao's intentions, and Ningshuang also felt guilty. Just want to come, the Khitan people have always threatened Han'er with cruelty, if they don't retaliate I'm afraid that in the future, everyone will be terrified, and soldiers and civilians will not be able to use it. This is what I have to do. If there is karma for killing innocent people, I, Han Ningshuang, will be responsible for it." A look of determination suddenly appeared on her face , Coughed twice more violently, his cheeks became flushed, Sinan was at a loss beside him in a hurry, handed water, beat her back again, and said in a crying voice: "Miss, if the Bodhisattva blames you, the maidservant The son also goes with you to reason."

"Ms. Zhao has already understood Miss Han's difficulties, and there is no need to blame herself for this."

"I know that Mr. Zhao is a reasonable person. If you hadn't turned around, this disaster would not have disappeared without a trace." Han Ningshuang also guessed most of what Zhao Xingde did, and she whispered, "It's just that if you don't do it right Let me explain to you, I feel uneasy." Reaching out his hand to take the 'medicine' bowl from Sinan, he frowned and drank it.

Zhao Xingde wanted to leave Suzhou at this time, always seemed a little guilty, he thought about the words, "Marshal Han" hadn't uttered yet, Han Ningshuang had put down the 'medicine' bowl, Jinpa wiped the 'medicine' stain on the corner of his mouth, and said in a low voice: " This time Wanyanzong threatened the 10,000+ Han people in Liaoyang City. If I ignored it, it would be chilling. Knowing that this is a trap, I had to bite the bullet and rush forward. In this way, there are still 10,000+ Han people in Liaoyang City. The hope of Han'er being rescued. I have thought about it carefully these days. I can't avoid it for a while, but I can't avoid it for a lifetime. Although our Han army is weak, we can fight to the death. Before the winner is decided, they will not make any more enemies. They plan to take [-] elite cavalry and [-] infantry to Liaoyang. We only listen to the instructions and not to the announcement. If the Kingdom of Jin is not too 'forced', we will help him attack Liaoyang . Otherwise, we will fight to the death. Liaoyang is [-] miles away from Suzhou, and we will fight our way back.”

Zhao Xingde couldn't help being startled when he heard the words, he stood up and said in a deep voice: "The girl is the heart of Liaodong, how can the marshal go to the dangerous place lightly?"

"People's hearts?" Han Ningshuang repeated in a low voice, "Mr. Zhao, as the captain of the Huguofu, should know that most of the fiefdoms of the founding princes are on the borders of Anxi and Anbei. If more than [-] Xia people are trapped by the enemy, Will these founding princes abandon their people and flee alone? Even if the enemy is strong and we are weak, if there is a chance, can the generals not go to rescue them?" She coughed softly and sighed, "Among the founding princes, we As far as we know, at least Dukes Xin Xiao, Zhang Li and Zhu Guo will definitely use their private soldiers as their own, and in all fairness, even if it is an egg hitting a stone, the captain of the Huguo Mansion would rather die in battle than sit back and watch the people be taken away."

Han Ningshuang's words revealed that her understanding and confidence in Xia Guogong, Marquis and Colonel was far above her own. Zhao Xingde said with embarrassment: "The sergeant is paid by the imperial court, eats the fat of the people, and protects the environment and the people is a bounden duty." "Han Ningshuang repeated in a low voice: "In other words, it is the bounden duty of the Han army to protect the Han people in Liaodong." She looked at Zhao Xingde and smiled slightly: "Wang Xuansu wants to stay in Suzhou to take charge of the situation, and he must use artillery to attack Liaoyang. Can Mr. Zhao help me again?"

"This,..." He hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

Zhao Xingde sighed when he stepped out of Han Ningshuang's tent, and shook his head helplessly.Although he has experienced many things, he cannot compare with Han Ningshuang.She didn't know whether these words during her illness came from scheming or sincere words.It's just that the military affairs of Chengying Eighth Battalion in Liaodong are to assist the Han army in dealing with Liao and Jin, and protecting Han Ningshuang is also the top priority.Moreover, more than half of the more than [-] Han people in Liaoyang were craftsmen and slaves in blacksmith shops. Zhao Xingde also planned to recruit more people to Kaizhou in the future, and the scale of iron smelting and military control was suddenly expanded.But in this way, the opportunity to test the firecracker gun in actual combat may be in the city of Liaoyang.

Han Ningshuang looked at Zhao Xingde's back, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and the maid Sinan broke her mouth and said, "Missy has been frowning all the time. After Mr. Zhao came to visit, she smiled several times." Han Ningshuang's cheek Weihong, she immediately suppressed her smile, and said in a deep voice: "It's just because Mr. Zhao is of great help to our Han army." She looked at Sinan, and joked in turn, "Listen to Wang Heng, you little girl I will never forget him, and when the war calms down in the future, I will send you to Mr. Zhao."

Sinan's face was as red as a piece of red cloth, and she said forcefully, "I only follow the eldest lady." Han Ningshuang coughed lightly twice, and then smiled, "Mr. Zhao's wife is the most talented woman in the Song Dynasty. I met her once in Dunhuang, she is gentle and virtuous, you will go with Mrs. Zhao, and the situation will be much better than following me." The teenage girl was so ashamed that she ran out of the tent with a 'medicine' pot , almost bumped into Wang Xuansu, Sinan hastily said: "I'm sorry." Then he blushed and ran away in a panic, which surprised Wang Xuansu for a while.

............

In Shangjing, the prince Yelu Yilie paid homage to his father, and was talking about what he had seen and heard in the military camp. Yelu Yiliezheng said: "They said that there was an iron stupa in Bianliang in the Southern Dynasty, with octagonal thirteen floors and a height of forty feet. , known as the number one pagoda in the world, hmph, I am not convinced, in the future we will go to the capital to build a taller iron pagoda in the southern dynasty."

Yelu Yilie was only 14 years old. According to the law, Khitan boys over 12 years old often lived in the military camp.In this short period of time, Renhei has lost a lot of weight, but his spirit has become much stronger. Empress Xiao felt sorry for him, stroked the top of his head and said, "I still have ambition." Yelu Dashi's face ’ But he sank, and waited to hear Yi Lie say: “It must be built so that there will be no one before and no one to come.” Instead, he laughed and said: “My good son, there is no one before and no one to come after. It’s not so easy to do, father. The emperor taught you a way."

Dashi is busy with government affairs all day long, and it is rare for him to be willing to teach the emperor the way to be a king. Empress Xiao is overjoyed and pulls Yilie for advice.Yelu Dashi ordered people to bring in one hundred catties of gold ingots, one hundred catties of silver ingots, and one hundred catties of rubble, and spread them together in the places where people come and go in the palace. Then he said to Yi Lie: "The Buddha said, the law is not light It is said that you need to test the school's perseverance and 'nature', you go to the pile of yellow and white things, be a golden rooster, hold your ears with your hands, stand for a while, and I will teach you."

Although Yi Lie was full of doubts, he still followed his father's will, holding his hands to his ears, and standing alone on the pile of gold and silver rubble as a golden rooster. During the time when the incense was burning, guards, maids, and servants came and went with extreme care. They stared at this strange man with amazed eyes, and when they saw that it was Yelu Yilie, they all bowed their heads and walked past in shock.If so, Yelu Yilie also blushed and felt very ashamed in his heart, as if he was insane, but secretly said: "This is the painstaking effort of my father to teach me how to govern the country." Being free, Yelu Yilie still insisted on supporting himself.

The burning of the incense lasted for as long as several hours, and finally when the incense burnt out, Yelu Yilie breathed a sigh of relief, hurriedly put down his hands and feet, and left the place just now as if fleeing, returning to Yelu In Dashi's study.Empress Xiao saw the father and son messing around, she was angry and funny and said: "Your Majesty, you have to test your heart, the emperor has already passed the test, you are not joking."

Yelu Dashi put down the memorial when he heard the words, and said with a slight smile: "Yi Lie, didn't you just do something that's 'unprecedented and never seen'?" His expression turned serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Today's affairs, you have to remember that for a king, his words and deeds will affect the world, and he must avoid vanity and good deeds. Things that have never been done before, and never come after, are extremely stupid things out of ten. Above the history , it just adds to the jokes."