(5,000 words in 2-in-1)

"What, uncle? Let us stop the fleeing Western captives? Liu Shu looked at his uncle Liu Yi incredulously. Not only him, but everyone else, including the head of the hundred households, stared at Liu Yi.

Today, Liu Shu and his second brother Liu Jiao were sitting in the tent wiping the fire gun in their hands, when they heard hundreds of households asking them to gather, saying that thousands of households had something to say. They immediately got out of their tents and walked to a small school field surrounded by the tents where their hundreds of soldiers lived, and they heard Liu Yi tell them: "Prepare to go on an expedition to seize Urumqi and block the retreat of the Xiyu."

Before they set out on the expedition, they had studied the terrain of the Western Regions and had made preparations to fight with the Western Regions in the Urumqi area, so they immediately thought of how terrible this errand was, and Liu Shu immediately asked in surprise.

"This is the order of the commander." Liu Yi's eyes flashed with tears and said.

"No! This ,......" Liu Shu still wanted to speak, but was immediately interrupted by Liu Yi. "Do you think I'm willing to pass on this order from the Commander? Do you think I'm willing to go to Urumqi to die? I'll just send it to death. It's over 50 years old this year, and I don't have a few years to live. But Liu Jiao, Liu Shu, you are both my nephews, I don't have a son, I have always used you as my son, I don't want you to die even if I cut you with a thousand knives! ”

Liu Yi squatted on the ground and cried, and continued while crying: "But I can't help it!" If it's just an ordinary guard, we're a straight guard! This matter is the will of His Majesty himself, can we still go against His Majesty's will? ”

Hearing him say, 'This matter is the will of His Majesty himself,' all the soldiers of this hundred households fell silent. When other guards received such an order, they could not carry it out or even mutinied, but they could not. They are the upper direct guards, the upper direct guards directly under the direct jurisdiction of His Majesty, the upper direct guards with the highest military salaries in the country, the easiest upper guards in the country to be promoted, the best food in the country, the strictest discipline in the country, and the best upper guards in the patriotic education of loyal monarchs.

If only that were it. During the Republic of China, although most of the national army had very poor discipline, little military salary, and very low morale, it was not without an army with strict discipline, good salaries, and high morale. Is it because of reluctance? There may be such factors, but the more important reason is that during the Republic of China, soldiers were disabled and had no security after they died in battle.

During the Republic of China, the Kuomintang treated soldiers like the master of Jiafuli in "Dream of Red Mansions" treated his subordinates. In Jiafu, if you have served the master and later let them get married, the master will always remember you and arrange errands for you, and the children will be able to choose a good place to be an errand in the future, and even allow them to leave their nationality to participate in the imperial examination, and they are also masters and wives in their own homes; If you have never served your master, you can still mix a bowl of rice when it is good, and if you are crippled, you will basically wait for death, and your family will not be taken care of if you die.

The same was true of the Kuomintang during the Republic of China. There are people above, you are disabled and killed in battle, and some people always remember it, send money to your family and send someone to take care of it; If there's no one up there, who cares about you?

Therefore, the army during the Republic of China, even the most elite army could not be sent out to carry out such a life-and-death task, and every time the Japanese army broke through the line, the whole army was defeated, because they knew that the family was counting on their own military pay and reward, and if they died in battle, no one would care about their families.

But the Ming army under Yun Xi was different. The Ming Dynasty is now implementing a hereditary military system, Lao Tzu is dead, his son is crippled, even if he is still young and can't fight, he occupies a place, and the other soldiers in the guard have what, he also has. Even if life is more difficult because of the lack of a strong laborer in the family, you can always get by counting the bereavement pension issued by the court. What's more, last year, Yunxi issued first-class medals to all soldiers who died in battle, and second-class medals to disabled soldiers, and they were respected and enjoyed a small number of privileges. Therefore, at this time, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty did not have to worry too much about the lack of family protection after their death, which made the family ruined.

And among them, the upper straight guard is the most taken care of by Yunxi. Not only are the rewards the greatest, but people with disabilities are also arranged with errands without any worries. Coupled with the strict discipline of the guards at this time, how dare they disobey Yun Xi's holy decree?

The head of this 100 households died in the previous battle, and now the original trial 100 households act as the 100 households. He originally had a dissatisfied expression on his face, but after hearing Liu Yi's words, he suddenly froze, and the expression on his face slowly changed, although he was still unwilling, he was silent for a while, but said, "Go back and write to your family." Then he turned and left the place, returning to his tent. After hearing his words, most of the other soldiers of this hundred households also turned their heads and said to Cao Jia, the governor of this hundred households: "I can't write, ask Governor Cao to write a letter home for me." ”

"Okay." Cao Jia choked up and agreed.

Liu Jiao and Liu Shu returned to their tent with a sad face, and were relatively speechless for a while, Liu Shu said: "Second brother, you have been to school and know how to read, you have finished writing your own home, come and write a letter to me." ”

Liu Jiao's eyes were red and he nodded, picked up a pen and wrote a letter home. Tears flowed while writing. After a while, he wiped the tears on his face and said to Liu Shu: "My writing is finished, it's your turn." ”

"I don't have any children now, so I will add a sentence to your family letter to my mother: 'Wait for my son to be filial to you in the next life!'" And it is. You take out a piece of paper separately, and I'm going to write a letter to Erni. ”

"Sister Da'an:

Today, Your Majesty has issued a holy decree, and let us go and fight the Western Prisoners, and block the retreat of the Western Prisoners so that the Western Prisoners can be completely annihilated.

This is an errand of nine deaths, and the possibility of dying on the battlefield is very high, and the hundred households asked us to write to our families and tell us all the important words and important things. I think about it, except for my mother, the only person who can write is you.

Ni Mei, we are cousins, we grew up together, eating and playing together. Do you remember, when you were a child,......。 There have been a lot of such happy things happening.

You have two sisters, and I have three brothers, but only the two of us have the best relationship. My father and aunt also felt that the two of us were a good match, and they planned to get married for us in the next two years.

But he didn't expect that the emperor would suddenly send troops to conquer the northwest, and sent the left guard of the government army to the battlefield. When I was fighting, I was always scared, for fear that I would be injured and disabled, but fortunately I survived a few days ago, and I was not injured or disabled, thinking that the war was about to end, but I didn't want to be sent to fight again, and it was still such an errand.

Erni, if I can go back alive this time, I will let my family hold a wedding. You know who I am. People are stupid, not smart, and they don't have much future. But I don't have bad intentions, I'm a responsible person, I will never bully you, and I won't women outside. If I can continue to work in Weilili, this salary will be enough for me to support my family; In case you are injured and can't fight as a soldier, it is easy to find an errand in Yingtianfu with an uncle to take care of, and no matter how bad it is, it is a patrol officer.

If I can't go back, don't be too sad. In war, people always die, and the commander always says that people always die. What's more, the court and the emperor have not been bad for our family over the years, when my father died, the four of us were still young and couldn't fight, but we all made up for positions in the army and ate a salary. I had a serious illness when I was a child, if it weren't for the fact that the first emperor gave me a sum of money, it is estimated that I would have died at that time, and I would have earned it to live until now. Just for this, it's worth repaying Your Majesty with one of my lives.

In case I can't come back, I've already written a suicide note. I left all the money I had saved and a few uniforms to my eldest brother, your eldest cousin's son. He will also be a soldier in the future, even if his clothes are old, but they are all good materials, and he can wear them.

But I have half a piece of silk in my hand for you. This was given to our family four years ago when His Majesty rewarded Shang Zhiwei, and my mother said that she would not wear clothes made of silk for fear of losing her life. I snatched half a horse from my eldest brother. This is the royal silk, there is no place to buy it, you will need it when you get married in the future.

I also secretly bought a few pieces of jewelry with my military salary, ready to give to you when I get married. In case I can't go back, I'll give it to you. The jewelry was hidden in a small box that I kept under the bed. My mother should have known about my secret jewelry, but she just pretended not to know. After you received the letter, you quickly took away the jewelry, and my mother in the province saw it and cried again.

That's all that comes to mind, and I wish you good health throughout your life. ”

Liu Jiao finished writing the letter and was about to fold it and put it in the envelope, when Liu Shu suddenly said again: "That's it, I'm going to die, she will always marry someone else in the future, and it won't be good if his future husband sees this letter." He snatched the letter from Liu Jiao's hand and tore it in half.

Seeing this scene, Liu Jiao couldn't bear it anymore, and reached out to hug Liu Shu and cried. Liu Shu also hugged him with his backhand and cried together.

At this time, the cries of the entire garrison of the left and right guards of the government army were full of crying, and the sound spread for miles away. Even Yoon-hee heard it. Yun Xi sighed and didn't say anything.

It took a long time for the two of them to stop their tears. Liu Jiao was about to say something while wiping his face, when suddenly a voice came from outside: "Second brother, third brother!" It was accompanied by crying.

The two of them turned their heads to look at the door, and saw a young man in his early twenties running in, grabbed them both, and knelt on the ground sobbing.

"Fourth brother, stop crying. We don't necessarily die in battle, we may come back, don't you curse us to die if you cry like this? Liu Shu persuaded.

"Third brother!" Liu Mao shouted.

"Don't cry!" Liu Fa stood up and said loudly: "You are now the pillar of the whole family, if you want to be strong in the future, how can you cry like this?" ”

"Second brother!" Liu Mao sobbed a few times and shouted, "Let me go to war for the third brother!" ”

"How's that going to work? You are now a civilian, how can you go to war? Besides, you've always been studying, you've only practiced something to strengthen your body and you've never fought, and if I go to war, I'll probably come back alive, and you'll definitely die if you go to war! Dismiss this idea! Liu Shu said.

"Isn't there an order from the imperial court, no one without a queen needs to fight such a battle! Third brother, like your younger brother, you haven't married a wife yet, and you don't have a son, so you have to go to war! He added.

"Our family has not been separated yet, the eldest brother, the second brother, and you and I are considered a family, the eldest brother already has a son, the second sister-in-law is also pregnant, and you don't have to fight as a civilian, so you are not without a queen."

Liu Shu forced a smile on his face at this time and said, "It just so happens that I am going to avenge my eldest brother." Although I have killed a few Xiyu before, the culprit who killed the eldest brother is not dead, and I will kill him this time to avenge the eldest brother. ”

"As for the offspring, in the future, when you give birth to a son, you will inherit one to my name, and inherit my incense and offer my tablet."

Liu Mao couldn't speak, just hugged the two of them and cried.

Suddenly, Liu Yi ordered the other hundred households to also come here at this time, and when he saw that the three of them were hugging their heads and crying, they also cried. While crying, he shouted, "I'm the one who has caused you trouble." At the beginning, in order to have more money and food for the family, I let the four of you brothers all have positions in the army, Liu Mao, you were arranged as a civilian, and Liu Jiao and the three of you were arranged to a hundred households for convenience. But I don't want Liu Yuan to die the day before yesterday, and today Liu Jiao, Liu Shu, and the two of you will also ....... ”

Liu Yi and Liu Yuan, Liu Jiao, Liu Shu, and Liu Mao's fathers are brothers, and he is the eldest. When Zhu Yuanzhang raised troops in the Northern Expedition, they arrived in their hometown, and the two brothers joined the army, and slowly accumulated merit and rose to thousands and hundreds of households. Later, their father was killed in battle, and the four brothers were raised by him when they were still young. Liu Yi didn't have a son, so he treated the four of them as his own sons.

It was not too early for their brothers to join the Ming army, and they were arranged to Shangzhiwei, and the fertile land near the capital could not be bought, even if they became officials, the salary was not high, and it was not easy to feed the four boys, so he took advantage of Zhu Yuanzhang's will to register the four nephews as soldiers and eat a salary. At that time, the embarrassment of the family was alleviated, but I never thought that the three brothers would have to do this nine-death errand today.

"Uncle, don't say that. At that time, if we hadn't been added to the army, without that share of food, the four of us brothers would not have enough to eat. The four of us brothers were able to survive healthy thanks to the will of the first emperor at that time, and now even if we lose this life for the emperor, we should still lose this life! Liu Jiao said.

Liu Yi didn't speak, just cried. Liu Mao said again: "If you talk about enjoyment, those who are lords can receive more favors from the court than us, why don't they go to a place like Urumqi to fight?" Only those of us who are soldiers and petty officers are going to die! ”

"Be careful!" Liu Jiao shouted. After listening to Liu Jiao's words, Liu Mao didn't dare to say any more, but he was even more dissatisfied.

While he was crying, a head poked in from the door, saw the four of them, and said, "Lord Liu, you are really here." ”

"Lord Tang." Liu Yi wiped his tears, stood up and said.

This person is the highest-ranking person among all the military doctors in the left guard of the government army, and because he is in charge of all the other military doctors, he is called the military doctor in charge, and his name is Tang Tan.

Yun Xi constantly emphasized discipline in the guards, and for this reason, he constantly strengthened the status and power of military doctors in the guards. If the guards in other places only have a vague sense of the political commissar functions undertaken by military doctors, the soldiers of the guards in the capital already know clearly: military doctors are not only responsible for the surface of the body, but also for the head.

So even a thousand households like Liu Yi didn't dare to offend Tang Tan, but because the military doctor didn't have a grade at this time, he called him an adult every time he saw him.

"Lord Liu, the commander has something to summon all the thousands of households, but Lord Liu is still in a hurry." Tang Tan also called everyone who called him an adult.

"How can such a thing be bothered by Lord Tang to convey it personally? Just send someone at random. ”

"I happened to have something to go this way, so I sent the letter by the way."

Liu Yi exchanged a few words with Tang Tan, and suddenly noticed that his eyes were also red, and he looked carefully at the tear stains on his face, and couldn't help asking, "Lord Tang, what's wrong with you?" ”

"Oh, I just wrote a suicide note to my family." Tang Tan said indifferently.

But his words were tantamount to a thunderclap in Liu Yi's ears. "What, Lord Tang, you, are you going to Urumqi with us to stop Xilu?"

"That's true. As a member of the left guard of the government army, I also eat the court's food on weekdays, how can I escape from the battle at such a time? Even if the laws of the imperial court are ignored, I will feel uneasy. Tang Tan replied.

"However, Lord Tang, you are not a soldier, you use medical skills to save people, and you can't lift a knife or gun to kill the enemy, what's the use of going to Urumqi?"

"Who says doctors are useless? I would bring a lot of herbs with me to bandage and treat wounded soldiers on the battlefield. Do your part to defeat the Sir. ”

Hearing this, Liu Yi couldn't help but raise his head and look at Tang Tan carefully.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Although we military doctors have done other things besides treating diseases and saving people on weekdays, which should not be done in your opinion, we are also ordered by the superiors, and we are also for the sake of the whole defense. Tang Tan said.

"Doctor Tang Tan, I'm sorry." Liu Yi suddenly bent down and said, "I have misunderstood you a lot in the past, please forgive me." ”

"It's just a little thing, so why bother." Tang Qin smiled.

Liu Yi said a few more words, and Tang Qin said: "Liu Qianhu, if you don't go to Commander Song's place again, you'll be late." ”

"Finally, I will say one more thing," he said to Liu Mao, who was crying, "This time I went to Urumqi to stop the enemy, and Song commanded the envoy to personally lead the troops. His Majesty has already appointed the father of the Song Commander as the hereditary earl. If he did not die in battle, the Song Command would at least be able to inherit the position of hereditary earl in the future, and maybe even go to another level, hereditary marquis. ”

"Every lord of the Ming Dynasty is a person who has made great contributions to the country, not just a corpse vegetarian meal."

Hearing this, Liu Mao's face turned red, he didn't dare to look at him again, turned his head and continued to sob.