Chapter 3 He Cao (Five Parts) Daye Eighth Year in the Spring and March, the Eastern Expedition Army finally arrived at the east bank of the Liao River. The front and rear of the armies were more than eighty miles long. The smoke and dust brought up by the horses' hooves covered the sky and the sun. The soldiers and horses of each road followed in turn.
After setting up camps around Huaiyuan Town, they dispatched fine cavalry to protect the official roads, and mobilized the people to level the road that had been trampled by horses and horses with loess. Use clean water to wash away the dust on the tree trunks on both sides of the road. When everything is sorted out, the Emperor
The Twelve Guards of the Imperial Camp, the front of the Sixth Army, the twenty thousand soldiers of the foreign army, with silver helmets on their heads and colorful silks on their chests, walked into the south gate of Huaiyuan Town (Note 1) to the sound of rumbling war drums, following the emperor.
Behind the army, there are nine teams of inner guard cavalry, each with a hundred men. The horses of each team are of the same color. The horses of the nine teams are different. After the nine-color cavalry passed by, on the road came the nine-color cavalry selected from the four fields of Huaiyuan Town.
The villagers, who are over seventy years old and have children and grandchildren, hold brooms made of green bamboo and move forward as if sweeping the road. From time to time, they even lean down to "uproot" the non-existent weeds.
After the road was cleared and the weeds were "plucked", His Majesty the Emperor's royal chariot, which was one foot wide and nine feet long and more than thirty feet long, slowly came into view of the Huaiyuan Town food guards. All they could see was
In order to prevent the assassins from attacking, the left and right armies of the Sixth Army of the Emperor guarded both sides of the imperial chariot. The imperial chariot took a step forward under the guidance of the white horse, and the bodies of the soldiers of the left and right armies also surged forward.
step
All civil and military officials followed the royal chariot so that the emperor could summon them at any time to discuss state affairs. In order to consider the hard work of the officials, His Majesty the Emperor specifically allowed officials of third rank and above, and nobles above the rank of rural marquis to bring their families with them. Along with the officials, there were also Western officials.
The Turkic Khan, the King of Gaochang, Prince Tuyuhun, and envoys from various countries in the Western Regions and Southeast Asia, their chariots and staffs were arranged in addition to the internal guards, and in front of the rear army of the emperor's six armies, they were served by specially recruited civilians and Zhuangzhuang.
The city entry ceremony was grand and grand, and even the Goguryeo "savages" across the Liao River could feel its majestic momentum. After many rehearsals in advance, the entire ceremony was perfect. The only flaw was at the city gate, Huaiyuan Town.
It was built to store grain for the army. The supervisors of the city walls and gates had a narrow vision. During the construction, they only considered the security of the city and did not take into account the majesty of the emperor. Therefore, the gate width could only be four horses parallel, which was not enough to allow the imperial chariot to pass through.
Even a small problem is not a problem. Yu Wenkai, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who is known for his cleverness, gave an order. Thousands of warriors rushed forward, shouldering their shoulders and lifting their hands. In a moment, they demolished the gates and door frames of the outer city and Wengcheng.
, and expanded the door opening by more than seven feet.
"The power of God will destroy everything! The clown of Gao Yuan will perish." In order to prevent His Majesty the Emperor from being unhappy because of the delay in demolishing the city gate, the ministers who were good at praying and chanting bowed to congratulate each other at the same time. Then, in the cheers of everyone
In the middle, the imperial chariot that stopped for a while walked slowly again, and walked to the narrow street of Huaiyuan Town (Note 2) Fortunately, the buildings in Huaiyuan Town had been cleaned up in advance, and no one’s house dared to block the eyes.
The emperor's chariot drive went smoothly. After a full two-hour demonstration, he checked into the pre-built palace. Baiguan and Waiyishanhu resigned, and were picked up by the palace supervisor and arranged to go to the Guanyi Station near the palace for half an hour.
Later, the eunuch of the inner palace announced an edict at the entrance of the palace, summoning all civil and military officials and foreign officials to come to the palace to discuss the matter of crossing the Liao Dynasty.
"With such a big scene, no wonder they walk slowly!" Li Xu led his horse and slowly walked towards the newly opened military camp outside the city. The food guard soldiers' barracks in the city were taken over by the internal army, including the buildings and
All the food, grass, and baggage does not mean that the more than 1,200 men under Li Yuan can be dismissed and go home. In this Eastern Expedition, in addition to the Sixth Army of the Emperor who promoted the majesty of the Sui Dynasty and the flag-bearers of each army, the soldiers who went to Liaodong to fight
Each person also carried three stones of rice with him. The food guard soldiers were responsible for organizing the people to sort the rice and return it to the warehouse in the shortest time to prepare for the unexpected needs of the army.
There were a lot of people on the road. They were all officers and soldiers returning to camp after welcoming the Holy Spirit. Some of them had the pinkish-red color on their faces that only happens after drunkenness. No need to ask, they must be standing in a better position and were lucky enough to witness it.
The expressions on the faces of some people in Tianyan were filled with jealousy and fascination. They had obviously seen the imperial guards wearing silver helmets and colorful silks. They regretted that they were unlucky when they joined the army and were assigned to the wrong team among the officers and soldiers.
There were large groups of ragged people pushing wheelbarrows and leading donkeys. They were recruited from various places to serve the people. There were more than two million people in total, twice the size of the army.
"Today we finally saw the emperor! It's not in vain that we stayed in this useless place for more than half a year!" Zhou Wenyuan, the food guard captain walking beside Li Xu, said with emotion as he got further away from the city.
We are all a bit taller, so we stand closer to the emperor's carriage. According to common sense, we have more chances to see Tianyan than others.
"Why, what does His Majesty look like?" Wang Yuantong, Warrior Xun and others couldn't resist the temptation. When they heard the other party boasting like this, they immediately surrounded him.
"This, this, anyway, it's very majestic. Just a brief glance at it will make people's hearts beat wildly!" Zhou Wenyuan hesitated for a long time before answering with a blushing face.
"Go, old Zhou, just blow, and you won't be afraid of the wind blowing your tongue." Wang Yuantong punched Zhou Wenyuan with all his strength and cursed carelessly.
"This guy is probably nervous because he didn't see anything. If it were me, I would have lifted my breasts high and been caught by Banzai's heavy eyes. I would have been promoted to level five, maybe level six!" Qi Poning!
He also came over and teased her with disdain.
His Majesty the Emperor is the proud son of heaven. He was born at the right time and has benefited all the people. It is a great blessing to see him. Even the ministers in high positions, except for civil servants of the fifth rank or above, cannot see the emperor every day. As for leaders,
The generals who fought in the army, such as Mai Tiezhang and Xin Shixiong, looked majestic outside. It only took three days after returning to the capital to have the opportunity to attend a court meeting. Depending on the number of meetings with the emperor each month, officials also automatically
Hundreds of officials are classified into three-sense officers, six-sense officers and nine-sense officers. As for ordinary martial arts officers, such as Li Xu, Wang Yuantong and others, if it weren't for the emperor's personal conquest, they would never have the opportunity to fight at such a close distance in this life.
Witnessing Tianyan (Note 3) "I was nervous. Who wouldn't be nervous anymore? At that time, Wanzai's eyes swept over me from a distance, and I felt as if I was being seen by him. My heart suddenly felt warm, and I felt that the pain of the past six months was gone.
It’s worth it!” Zhou Wenyuan ignored everyone’s ridicule and showed off to himself.
"Bah, at your height, if you put them in a crowd of people and create a hole, among a bunch of heads, long live I can still see that you are almost the same as Xuzi. At least he is big enough and looks like a soldier!" Qi Po!
Ning's mouth was like a crossbow, striking people unceremoniously. As soon as Li Xu was mentioned, everyone immediately remembered the incident where he presented horses to the camp last year. At that time, Duke Tang selected thirty horses and said they were dedicated to His Majesty the Emperor.
Now that the emperor's chariot has arrived at Huaiyuan Town, the opportunity to present the horse will be within the next day or two in case of a grand parade...
"Zhongjian, if Long live summons you, you must answer correctly. It is said that when the emperor is angry, he will chop off people's heads. When he is happy, it is not impossible to make you a county or rural prince!" Warrior Xun held up the reins of the horse.
He leaned closer to Li Xu and teased him with a smile. He was also a merchant and had never been an official, so he was full of longing for officialdom.
"It's hard to say, Xuzi is young and good-looking. The emperor is said to have brought a princess with him this time. Once he is attracted..." Zhou Wenyuan was fed up with everyone's "bullying" and finally found someone who was better than himself.
I'm a soft persimmon that's easy to bully, I pinched it to my heart's content
Li Xu raised his head and gave everyone a harmless smile. He was summoned and appreciated by the emperor, and he had a dream of becoming famous in one fell swoop. With Li Yuan, the Duke of Tang Dynasty, he would definitely mention him and Liu Hongji when he presented the horse.
Old General Mai Tiezhang, whose name was unknown to him, might also think of the possibility of being summoned by the emperor when he was doing good for the country. Li Xu seemed to have a fire burning in his heart. But after meeting the imperial chariot today
, the fire in his heart calmed down.
The tall royal chariot, the mysterious yellow curtain, and the red scroll all left a very deep impression in his mind. But for some reason, Li Xu always associated these with the wizards who danced the gods in his hometown. He remembered that there was a scene when he was a child.
In the spring of that year, there was a severe drought throughout the upper valley. Under the guidance of wizards, the elders held a grand ceremony to offer sacrifices to heaven by the river. More than thirty sheep and five horses were used in the ceremony, and the crowd was empty. But later, there was still no drop from the sky.
If it had not rained last year, it would have been a good year, and each family had some food in reserve. In addition, the county governor at that time handled the situation properly, and I don’t know how many people in the county would have starved to death.
"Zhong Jian, Qi Canjun, Wang Canjun, Captain Zhou, everyone, please move slowly!" Just as Li Xu was thinking wildly, Liu Hongji hurried over from behind on a fast horse and glanced at everyone,
He reported a shocking and almost crazy news, "Long live tomorrow I will personally review the Zuowuwei, Zuoyiwei and Zuotunwei who were the first to arrive at the front line. We have done a good job in protecting the granary. Tomorrow we will accompany the three guards at Zuowuwei."
The Grand Campus is ready for review by His Majesty!"
"Ah!" Everyone exclaimed at the same time, and in an instant, everyone could fit a whole egg into their mouths.
Note 1: The six armies of the emperor include the inner, outer, front, rear, left and right armies.
Note 2: Gao Yuan, the name of the king of Goguryeo at that time
Note 3: The official of Sanshen can see the emperor three times a month, Liushen, Jiucen and so on.
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