Zhang Qi raised his wine and said to Yang Wenguang: "The general drinks." ”

Putting down the wine glass, Zhang Qi pointed to a pot of meat on the table and said, "General, please use the dishes." ”

After eating the meat, Zhang Qi was about to speak, but Yang Wenguang raised his hand to stop: "We belong to colleagues, you are so polite, how can I stay!" ”

Zhang Qi sighed: "Is there any way?" Now the generals in the army, you and General Zhao have been following the Jieshuai from Suizhou, and they have made great contributions to Hequ Road, which is well deserved. I only came a year later, and I was lucky enough to get this position. However, this time I was selected for the drill in Beijing, and I was really worried. It's okay if everything goes well, if it's a mistake, you are defeated, and you lose the prestige of the marshal, how can you explain it when you come back? ”

Yang Wenguang said: "Jieshuai is not a person who cares about this kind of thing. As long as you do your best, no matter what the result is, the marshal will not blame. ”

"Even if the marshal doesn't blame him, I can't afford to lose the face of the army on the meandering road. The river meanders to victory after victory, and no army has been comparable for decades. Wouldn't it be underestimated if you lost this time? ”

Yang Wenguang looked at Zhang Qi, and after a long while, he said: "To be honest, if we enter the capital this time, if we only compare the array of soldiers, we will lose nine times out of ten." The elite soldiers of the forbidden army are carefully selected from all over the world, which one can compare with them? It's just a military posture, but it's just strict training, as long as they know the trick, it's not that difficult. If we want to win this time in Beijing, we must find a way from the actual combat exercises of both sides. The imperial court agreed that the generals and soldiers this time did not need the old people of Hequ Road, and they were just learning for a few months. When the general entered the river meander, in the end, he had led the troops in the first battle of the Quye River and had seen the real battle array. For the remaining month or so, we will work on this, and the general will do it with his heart. ”

Zhang Qi nodded, although he was still apprehensive in his heart, he didn't want to say anything, just drinking and eating meat with Yang Wenguang.

This entry into Beijing is of great significance, although Du Zhongxiao didn't say anything, Zhang Qi understood in his heart. The performance of the two armies directly reflected the difference between the Hequlu Military Academy and the Beijing Military Academy, which affected the subsequent arrangements of the imperial court. The victory or defeat of the two armies is related to Du Zhongxiao's face. Du Zhongxiao no longer needs these things to add glory to himself, and the army on Hequ Road is different. If you perform poorly, you will think that the previous victories are all luck, which makes people look down on them.

Before you know it, you will enter the leap July, and the white dew will be frosty, and autumn will suddenly come.

On this day, Du Zhongxiao was sitting in the study, and Chen Xiliang, who signed the judgement, hurriedly came in and handed over an official letter and said: "Jie Shuai, Suizhou official document." ”

Du Zhongxiao didn't know why, so he took the official document and unfolded it, and gently put it on the desk after reading it. After a while, he asked Chen Xiliang: "Has the person arrived?" ”

Chen Xiliang said: "Hui Jieshuai, he has arrived at the Volcano Army. The lower official has sent a public servant to meet the Volcano Army. ”

Du Zhongxiao stood up, looked out the window, and said, "It's been almost a year, but I didn't expect this to be the result in the end." You use my letter to instruct Zhao Zi to return to Shengzhou with the people who were familiar with Liu Huai in the past, and go to see them together. ”

Chen Xiliang promised, and seeing that Du Zhongxiao had no other instructions, he turned around and left.

After Liu Huai's death, Du Zhongxiao reported to the imperial court, went to his hometown to find his clansmen, and welcomed Liu Huai's bones back to carry his soldiers. The local government has been looking for several months, but there is no news, and Liu Huai's vein has long been cut off. No one welcomed the bones back, so they could only be temporarily stored in Tanglong Town, and there was really no way, and they might be buried in a foreign country in the end. Du Zhongxiao even asked people to find a suitable Taoist priest and prepare to build a small temple to bury Liu Huai in Tanglong Town.

When the news reached Suizhou, Li Xuan, Zhizhou, did not give up, and finally his brain moved to Fan Xian, who had a blind date with Liu Huai. After Liu Huai died last year, Du Zhongxiao once entrusted Li Xuan to give a sum of money to Fan Xian to choose a lover to marry. Soon after, Fan Xian got married and gave birth to a child not long ago.

What did Li Xuan say to Fan Xian, Du Zhongxiao didn't know, and there was no way to talk about this kind of thing in detail. The end result was that Fan Xian and her husband agreed that their first son would nominally pass on to Liu Huai and bring his bones back to Suizhou. The public of Suizhou took the official document with Fan Xian and his wife, and had already arrived at the Volcano Army and asked Du Zhongxiao to help.

After so many battles on Hequ Road, the most senior general killed on the front line is still Liu Huai, which has special significance. The battalion Tianxiang army came from the north, everything was too hasty, and nothing was known about the intelligence on the front. Civil strife broke out, if it weren't for Liu Huai leading people to guard the city gate, Tanglong Town might have been in the hands of Yelu Chongyuan, and everything would have been different. Liu Huai led people to defend Tanglong Town, won the most precious time, and in the battle behind, the camp Tianxiang army could be calm and unhurried, and won victory after victory. After so many battles, the most critical one is still the battle of Tanglong Town.

Liu Huai was killed in battle, and Du Zhongxiao wanted to give him the courtesy he deserved, but he didn't expect it to be so complicated. There is no way, the main force of the Yingtian Xiang Army is the Fiber Pulling Army of the Central Plains, they are at the bottom of society, and they are marginal people. Liu Huai still remembers where his hometown is, many people don't even know their hometown, and many young people grew up in a daze, and they don't even know their parents. When they were rewarded for their meritorious service and wanted to go back to glorify their ancestors, they couldn't find their home at all.

Li Xuan's welcome of Liu Huai back to Suizhou was not eventful. In Liu Huai's identity, the reward he received can be used to build temples and shrines in the burial ground, and the imperial court has special funds to allocate every year. For the locality, such a martyr's shrine is also the face of the locality, and the magistrate must of course strive for it. In the words of later generations, it was the base of patriotic education. Built in Suizhou, it is the moral politics of Zhizhou.

However, letting Fan Xian's first son pass on to Liu Huai, Du Zhongxiao felt very awkward. The two just met on a blind date, and Liu Huai then got on the train and went to Hequ Road to fight. For the two, the other party is just a passing guest in life, and there is no need to forcibly contact each other. According to Du Zhongxiao's idea, even if Liu Huai is buried in Suizhou, it doesn't have to be like this, that is where he lives, and the local sacrifice is. However, the imperial court did not think so, and without such a reason, Liu Huai could only be buried in a temple in Tanglong Town.

With a sigh, Du Zhongxiao walked out of the study, looking at the leaves in the courtyard that had turned yellow, and the fallen leaves were flying in the wind, and the taste in his heart was indescribable.

Five days later, Du Zhongxiao took Yang Wenguang, Zhao Zi and other old generals from Suizhou, stood in front of the city gate, watched Fan Xian follow the dukes from Zhou, supported Liu Huai's coffin, and boarded the southbound train.

Going south with Liu Huai, there are also three coffins that no one in the family, attached to Liu Huai's temple for sacrifice. The Yingtianxiang army fought many battles, and although there were many big victories, there were not many people who died. But almost a third of these few people are living alone, with no one to take care of the afterlife.

Boarding the train, Fan Xian turned his head and looked at the dozens of generals under Du Zhongxiao outside the city gate, holding Liu Huai's coffin lightly in his hand, and sighed softly.

About a year ago, I met with the man in the coffin and didn't even say a word. That night, my father drank happily, thinking that he had found a home. I didn't expect that parting, it was the eternal separation of heaven and man. If you don't have that side, you have nothing to do with this person, and the person in the coffin may only be able to bury your bones elsewhere. Now that I am carrying the coffin back to my hometown, I don't know if the people inside are willing or not.

A duke came over and saluted Fan Xian: "Madam, the train is running again, go over there and sit down safely." ”

Fan Xian agreed, went to the seat next to him and sat down, looking out the window, it was vast.

With a whistle, the train moved, faster and faster, along the valley between the mountains, all the way south.

Seeing that the train was getting farther and farther, Du Zhongxiao said: "Liu Huai has returned to his hometown, and the war on Hequ Road has come to an end." After the generals returned, they each instructed their subordinates to write a letter to report their safety. When the soldiers guard the border, life and death are unpredictable, don't let the family worry too much. ”

The people will make a promise together. There were no words, the autumn wind swept across the valley, and the atmosphere was a little oppressive for a while.