Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 3 Returning to Xianyang after full rank (5)

"The emperor of Jin died, the situation may become more and more dangerous," Zhao Xingde said carefully, "Although the ambush has been arranged in Jicui Mountain, for the sake of safety, we should prepare another way of retreat," he really thought Worried that the internals of the Han army may not be so reliable, "I am going to ask Captain Li to prepare a ship in Chenzhou to respond."

Han Ningshuang's eyes moved slightly, she nodded, and said in a low voice: "Thank you, General Zhao." But she said in her heart that the number of people a sea ship can carry is limited, and I, Han Ningshuang, am the one who abandoned my subordinates.

She took a deep breath and looked into the distance. The Liao and Jin armies faced each other from east to west, battling the horns, and the lanterns and torches stretched to the north and south skylines.I don't know when, the light rain started to fall, and her face suddenly turned cold. She stretched out her hand and brushed it, but it was rain with a slight chill, and it was almost autumn.She suddenly remembered a sentence she had read in Xiaguo, when autumn is here, can winter be far behind?

The cool rain caused the soldiers on duty to wrap their military robes tightly. Zhao Xingde accompanied Han Ningshuang to inspect the Han army camp. When he returned to his tent, the military robes were already soaked in rain.He took off his general robe and hung it in the tent, shirtless, and wrote to Jin Changtai and others who stayed in Phoenix Mountain to arrange countermeasures.The first thing is to organize and train all the men who won the army, and then start to set up a stronghold in the north along the Jumen River to prepare for large-scale immigration.In this encounter between the artillery battalion and the Liao army, although the firecrackers suffered heavy losses, they did play a role. After the Liao army cavalry rushed into the camp, they could still fight the Liao army with the stabbed firecrackers.Because of the lack of archers, Zhao Xingde ordered Jin Changtai to expand the firecracker camp as much as possible, use all the refined iron to make firecrackers, and spared no expense to buy a batch of saltpeter and sulfur from Song State.

After writing the letter, he immediately handed it over to the cavalry. Only then did Zhao Xingde feel the slightest chill on his body, stood up and swung his knife, chopping for more than half an hour, until his whole body was dripping with sweat, he changed his clothes and went to bed.

In the camp not far away, Du Chuijiao and a few sentries were still on guard.The cavalry who sent the message galloped and quickly disappeared in the thin rain.With a small piece of oilcloth propped on top of his head, Du Chuijiao stood inside, letting his waist lean against the wall of the village, while avoiding the rainwater blown in by the wind. "Urgent military report, Mr. Du, this Agu has been beaten to death, is the situation not good?" someone asked.

"Well," Du Chuijiao drew out the horizontal knife, wiped it with the buckskin, and muttered, "My mother, the beans planted this year may not be harvested."

"He's 'grandmother', isn't Liaogou afraid of delaying the farming season?"

"The Liao dog doesn't farm the land. The autumn is tall and the horse is fat. Cutting off the head is enough."

"We can't grow crops these days, let's see who cuts off people's heads quickly! By the way, Mr. Du, have you ever eaten human flesh? What does it taste like?"

"I bah! Bah, bah, bah!" Du Buijiao stared, he didn't expect that he had such an image.

It was the calmest before the storm. The Jin army did not launch a major offensive, and the Liao army did not rashly switch from defense to offense.There was a delicate atmosphere in the camp of the Jin Army.Although Wanyan Aguda's death had nothing to do with the Liao army, His Majesty died during the Southern Expedition after all.Some people speculate that they will continue to attack and completely defeat Yelu Dashi to avenge His Majesty.There is also speculation that troops will be withdrawn immediately.The third Bo Jilie, Wanyan Pu's servant, drove back from the city of Shenzhou, but after Shenzhou was defeated, his prestige was greatly reduced.Among the Southern Expedition Army, the ones who really took the initiative were the Dutong Wanyan Ci Bushi and the Deputy Dutong Yan Xieye.

When Wanyan Aguda was alive, although his princes did not surpass Wanyan Wu Qimai and other important officials in status, the older princes like Wanyan Zongqian, Zong Wang, Zong Han, Zong Jun, etc. all held military power and had their own They have recruited a group of confidant generals, except for Wanyan Zongwang who stayed in Ningjiang Prefecture to assist the country's prime minister Wanyan Sagai, the other older princes are all in the Southern Expedition Army.Outsiders only saw that Wanyan Zongbi frequently met with other princes in private, but they didn't know that he was in contact with many brothers, and they must not let the throne fall into the hands of Wanyan Ci, who was alienated from everyone's blood.

The entire Jin army camp was loose outside and inside tight, and the Han army camp was also in full swing. Han Ningshuang arranged for chariots and horses to send the wounded back to Suzhou Guannan first. Before the situation became clear, she herself could not leave rashly.Zhao Xingde received a reply letter from Fenghuang Shanzhai, and Jin Changtai reported that more than 5000 people under the entire Xia Guoying had registered households. If the army is fully expanded, the ratio of one household to one man can be drawn to expand the garrison camp.Considering the manufacturing capacity of the blacksmith shop, about ten battalions of firearms can be trained, that is, [-] people.Due to the shortage of firecrackers, each new battalion has only a few dozen firecrackers, and the rest are temporarily replaced by wooden sticks for training.In order to rapidly expand the army, many sergeants and old guards went down to the newly formed battalion to serve as centurion commanders and tens commanders.Li Sihai led the gunboat and set off, ready to berth in Chenzhou, and sent sergeants to guide Zhao Xingde in the direction.

Jin Changtai also sent an unsigned private letter at the same time.After Zhao Xingde opened it, it was written by Chen Dong, who had already arrived in Guangzhou a few months ago.The paper is full of the decadence of being relegated to the wild, but the excitement of going to a big fight.Hundreds of thousands of prisoners were escorted to Guangzhou and Qiongzhou from various states and counties one after another. Chen Dong had already begun to select officials from among the exiled scholars, and at the same time recruited scholars' children as officers to train the Xiang army.However, many people from the Central Plains moved back to the land, and the children of scholars who were willing to serve in the army were rare. Now most of the applicants were those exiled students from the academy, who themselves could not enter the official career, so as to gain a background.

After Liu Yanqing took charge of the southeast battalion, the subordinates that Wang Yan relied on were either transferred or left idle, and Han Shizhong was sent to the Dengzhou Navy.Yue Fei was sent to Guangzhou, where the Guangzhou Shipbuilding Department trained the Henghaixiang Army.Both of them are up and down.Chen Dong proudly told Zhao Xingde that this Yue Fei was "comparable to a good general in the past", and he didn't even shy away from it. If one day he can take charge of the Zhengshitang, he will be able to lead the army to attack Youyan in the north and go straight to Beijing.

At the end of the letter, Chen Dongcai mentioned that Qian Gui, the eunuch of Guangzhou City Ship, was quite rich, and Zhou Cong, the new commander of the Henghai Navy, was a villain who was born as a pirate. Clinging to Qian Gui wholeheartedly.With the idea of ​​"be patient for the country", Chen Dong could reluctantly cooperate with these two people, but he couldn't help complaining a few words in his letter to Xingde.

"It's really easy to change the country, but the 'nature' is difficult to change," Zhao Xingde secretly said, "Shaoyang is a famous general in ancient times, but he has the knowledge of people. If the word 'famous general' is not enough for this person, who in the world should be." In the matter of training the Henghaixiang Army, Chen Dong trusted Zhao Xingde the most, so he completely followed his suggestion and trained all of them as gunners.The most important thing for the firecracker army is order and prohibition. Zhao Xingde recalled the later generations' evaluation of Yue Fei's "sinking", and then remembered the saying that "shaking the mountains is easy, but it is difficult to shake the Yue family's army", and remembered the performance of his firecracker battalion under the impact of the Liao army cavalry , Zhao Xingde suddenly thought: "Can a firecracker shooter really be trained to be as dumb as a chicken and as immobile as a mountain?"

There are many ways to train soldiers in the world, but they are all only in the rough.To truly succeed in military training, the first thing is to win people.The book of war only tells one, two, three, four, five, but skips over one, two, three, three, four, five. We weigh the pros and cons, choose between confidantes, and set the rules. There are many, many unknowns.Otherwise, everyone can train a strong soldier with a military book in their hands.Zhao Xingde himself is an extremely meticulous person, and with the help of Jin Changtai and others, he has just trained a few battalions of garrison troops in Liaodong, which are still worthy of use.Knowing what to do, knowing what to do, this principle of military training, is popular in the world, and the key is to make it work.He was thinking about the military training in his heart, and he couldn't help being crazy for a while.

After pondering for a while, Zhao Xingde came back to his senses. He was a little tired at this time, so he walked out of the tent. A gust of autumn wind blew, and his dizzy mind immediately cleared up a lot.Just now Chen Dong mentioned Yue Fei in his letter, and Zhao Xingde happened to remember a poem by him, so he read it out in a low voice: "Last night, the birds couldn't stop singing. I was startled back to the Thousand Miles Dream, and it's already three o'clock. Get up and walk around the steps alone. People Quietly, the moon is dim outside the curtain."

He looked up to see a bright moon hanging in the sky, and then he remembered that, before he knew it, it was almost the Mid-Autumn Festival, "The white head is fame. The old pine and bamboo in the old mountains hinder the return journey. I want to put my heart on the Yaoqin. There are few bosom friends and strings Who will listen?" Most of the soldiers were wearing summer military robes, and at this time the cold wind was blowing, and many people lit bonfires to keep warm.

At this moment, a voice of "Good word!" Zhao Xingde turned around and saw Han Ningshuang standing behind him.She heard that there were sentences in the lyrics such as "Shocked back to the dream of a thousand miles", "The white head is fame", "Old pine and bamboo in the old mountains, hindering the return journey", and she thought it was a work of reminiscence.

Han Ningshuang was a little skeptical at first, were those masterpieces passed down to the world really done by this person?Being pregnant in this world is like being pregnant, and it is difficult to hide it.Literati and refined scholars often have the habit of not expressing their displeasure.Listening to him casually 'chanting' at this time, although it is not as good as the ones he sang, but the mood is gloomy and the meaning of wandering and sad is just suitable for this person's situation.May I ask, at the time of ups and downs, who has much thought of singing about the wind and the moon?

Thinking of this episode, she felt a little dazed, and said with a smile, "Mr. Zhao's words are good."

Zhao Xingde knew that he was misunderstood, he shook his head and said, "This was done by an old man from the Southern Dynasty."

"An old man from the Southern Dynasties?" Han Ningshuang didn't doubt it, and asked casually, "Are you a gentleman from the Neo-Confucian Society?"

Zhao Xingde shook his head.Yue Fei likes to make friends with scholars, and now he works with Chen Dong, but as a general, it is impossible to join a society and form a party.

Han Ningshuang frowned slightly, didn't ask any more questions, and said in a deep voice: "I came to see General Zhao to tell you something. After the Jin army's southern expedition was completed, Yan Ci summoned all the generals, and declared that the three armies should not be left without a master, and if they want to take charge of themselves Bo Jilie, inheriting the throne. As a result, all the princes and relatives objected in unison, and everyone supported Wanyan Aguda's younger brother Wanyan Xie to inherit the throne. Wanyan's resignation could not be suppressed, so he had to agree according to the wishes of all relatives. Wanyan Xie also inherits the position of Dubo Jilie, and will formally ascend the throne after the Liao army is defeated and his class teacher returns to Huanglong Mansion. Besides, Xie also proposed Wanyan Zongbi to be Diebo Jilie."

Speaking of this, Han Ningshuang's eyes were a little unnatural.After Wanyan Zongbi's promotion was very strong, he immediately surpassed Wanyan Zongwang, Zong Han and other peers.Bo Jilie has the authority to decide state affairs, and he is the only Bo Jilie among the younger generation, and he has the status of the next generation successor of the Kingdom of Jin.The many days of planning finally came to fruition. Wanyan Zongbi was a little complacent, and deliberately showed off in front of Han Ningshuang, and hinted again at the intention of proposing marriage, which was the first time she knew the news.