Chapter 2 Becoming an Official (Wu Shang) The laughter in the restaurant quickly stopped. To be more precise, everyone’s laughter was forced back into their throats by the expressions on the faces of Li Xu and Qin Ziying. There was usually very little laughter.
Li Xu's face turned pale as he smiled, his hand pressed on the handle of the knife at his waist, and his fingers kept opening and closing. Qin Ziying opened his eyes full of poetry and pointed his fingers straight out of the window.
"Fire, fire..." Qin Ziying, who had been studying since childhood, was so nervous that he could not speak completely. In fact, there was no need for him to speak more completely. The sound of horns mixed in the north wind passed through the window, and he was half drunk.
Everyone who was drunk suddenly woke up from the cold
"It's in the direction of the military camp!" Liu Hongji was the first to jump up and rush down the stairs. The simple wooden ladder was shaky under his feet and almost collapsed at any moment.
At this juncture, no one cared about the safety of the people under their feet. The shaking of the stairs became more and more violent, and the whole restaurant began to sway with it. Several drinkers in the next room poked their heads out to curse, and when they saw the young man rushing down quickly, they quickly shrank their heads again.
When they got back, Wang Yuantong and others didn't like to bully others, but the yellow military uniforms were enough to protect them from being bullied by others (Note 1) "Master, master, you haven't paid the bill yet!" Seeing everyone trying to leave, the restaurant owner hurried away.
When Wang Yuantong came out, he pushed him away and cursed: "Grandma, I've blinded your dog's eyes. When did I ever give you credit? Get out of here, Tang Gong orders troops!"
The shopkeeper didn't dare to stop him anymore, and squatted beside the door frame with a sad face. Qi Poning, who was walking behind Wang Yuantong, threw down a money bag and shouted: "Count it yourself, the rest is on your cabinet. If you dare to hack this man's money,
Watch your ass!"
"Hey, hey, I don't dare, I don't dare!" The shopkeeper, who already thought he was unlucky, was overjoyed, holding a small bag of copper coins and bowing repeatedly. From the weight, he could guess that the copper coins in the bag were probably less than half the size of the local small town in Huaiyuan Town.
, there are no expensive dishes. Five hundred dollars is enough for these plague gods in front of you to come again ten or eight times.
A waiter had already brought everyone's horses close to him, and he didn't know whether he was drunk or too nervous. Qin Ziying's boots were sliding around the stirrups, but they couldn't find their way into the stirrups. Liu Hongji looked impatiently, stretched out his big hand, and lifted
They picked him up by the collar and carried him onto the back of the horse. In Qi Ziying's scream, everyone shook off the reins and rushed towards their camp like the wind.
Along the way, officers who came out to drink gradually joined the team. In a moment, they had gathered into a small team, with some taking the lead and others following behind. Even when they were training, they had never been so cooperative.
The entire military camp was awakened from sleep by the sound of the horn. The young men who usually did not train hard had their helmets tilted, and they all stood in the wind and snow with pale faces, looking at the fire. The fire that illuminated half of the sky was five miles outside the city.
, the faint shouts of killing and the sound of war drums are carried to the ears by the wind from time to time
Tang Gong Li Yuan had arrived at the military camp a long time ago. He took his eldest son Jiancheng and more than a dozen personal guards to inspect the performance of his group of young men who had never been on the battlefield. He had already expected the performance, so he did not feel angry.
Most of them sneered at the belatedly returning officers, or glared at them, then walked away.
The general's calmness gradually calmed down the chaotic military spirit. The soldiers no longer ran back and forth, but found their respective partners and lined up under the orders of the brigade leaders.
"Brother, where is the fighting going on?" Li Xu heard someone from the nearby team asking in a low voice.
"I heard that some Koreans were trying to cross the river and accidentally stepped on the ice! Zuotunwei General Xin Shixiong has led his people to meet them, and the two sides are fighting at night!" A team member who was slightly more conscious was answering in a low voice.
"His grandma's house has a pile of food and supplies, and of course they will come and burn it right in front of someone else's house!" Someone complained in a low voice, but accidentally his voice was louder, and the swear words were carried far away by the wind.
Someone immediately echoed: "That's right, I don't know which bastard's idea it was. He's been clamoring for a year and still doesn't want to fight. Even those guys on the other side of the river are fools and are ready!"
In an instant, the entire audience fell silent. He said "bastard" and everyone became mute. Everyone with ears has heard that this Eastern Expedition to Goryeo was personally planned by His Majesty the Ming Emperor, who vowed to make the Sui Dynasty never suffer from Liao troubles like this.
You don't need many bastards, just one can make everyone confiscate their homes and exterminate their clans.
The soldier who cursed knew that he had made a mistake, so he lowered his head and tried his best to hide in the crowd. Those who participated in the discussion also lowered their heads, fearing that someone would record their faces.
"Dian Mao!" At the critical moment, Li Yuan's voice came from the front of the team, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief.
The soldiers joined the army at the top of their lungs, calling out the names of the officers one by one. The time from blowing the horns to gathering the troops to the official count of the bows was long enough. All the officers rushed back with dignity, although most of them were out of breath, and there were two others.
They kept shaking, and the wind blew away the smell of wine on them, causing the soldiers in the front row to twist their noses.
"Starting from tomorrow, if you don't want to be stabbed in the dark, don't leave the military camp at night!" Li Yuan frowned and shouted.
"Your Majesty!" the soldiers replied in unison. The Liao River, which is the boundary river between the Sui Dynasty and Goryeo Dynasty, has frozen. The other party's troops may come over from the ice at any time. In this season, staying in the military camp is indeed much safer than wandering out.
"The brigade leader on duty will lead the troops and horses of the headquarters to patrol the warehouse to prevent spies from sneaking in and setting fire. The rest should disperse and go back to sleep!" Li Yuan glanced at the rookies under his command and ordered loudly.
"Yes!" The soldiers agreed, but did not move. Almost all of them couldn't believe their ears and went back to the camp to sleep? How is this possible, once the enemy comes to kill...?
"Go back to sleep, it's a waste of time, you stepped on the ice once, who has the guts to step on it a second time and go to sleep again, be energetic enough to watch the show tomorrow!" Li Yuan waved his hand magnanimously and repeated his order again.
"Yes, General!" the soldiers replied happily, and dispersed happily. Tang Gong was right, the Koreans were unlucky. They rushed to cross the river before the ice was frozen. They had already stepped on the ice once tonight, and they must have collapsed.
I won't be stupid enough to try it a second time.
The faces of Liu Hongji, Li Xu and others gradually became solemn. They had the experience of living outside the Great Wall and knew that no matter how wide the river outside the Great Wall was, it would freeze in winter. From now on, the north wind and snowflakes would freeze the entire Liao River.
There are bridges made of ice everywhere along the nearly 100-mile border between Korea and Korea.
Should I remind Mr. Tang? Li Xu asked Liu Hongji with his eyes, but the latter gently shook his head and gave him a sideways glance out of the corner of his eye.
Li Xu followed Liu Hongji's instructions and looked. Under the dim firelight, he saw Tang Gong's family general Li Yan slowly walking out of the camp with more than thirty confidants and veterans. Turning his head slightly, he accidentally saw another person.
More than two dozen veterans of hundreds of battles followed Li Shun, the family general, towards the granary.
"You two go back to the camp, and stop taking the lead in making nonsense!" Li Yuan, who was walking forward, turned around, as if anticipating Liu Hongji and Li Xu's performance, gave them a meaningful look, and warned them.
"Yes!" The two of them bowed and accepted the order, striding towards their barracks.
Note 1: Sui Dynasty military uniform, yellow clothes and red flag