Chapter 42: Unusual Movements in Border Town
Winter always comes early in the surrounding cities. The wind is so cold that even the withered grass bends down.
Liu Shan, standing under the city wall, curled up his slightly frozen fingers. He forced himself to cheer up and talk to Niu Er beside him.
"It's so fucking cold..." Liu Shan felt so cold that his face didn't even belong to him anymore. He couldn't help rubbing his hands.
"We're just getting started." Niu Er picked up a broken grass root from somewhere and put it in his mouth, sucking on it for a few times. When he found that nothing came out, he spat out a sigh, "The real cold hasn't come yet. I wonder how many people will freeze to death or starve to death this year."
"The general has returned from the capital." Liu Shan said.
Then both of them fell silent.
"I say, what kind of life are we living!" Niu Er cursed after a while.
A gust of cold wind blew, and Liu Shan's face turned numb. "If only there was a way to survive..."
He didn't finish his words, but both of them understood what he meant. If they could make a living, why would they come here? People like them...
Life is so cheap.
Just like the withered and low grass outside the city, which can be trampled by everyone.
"I heard that the Turks were there a few days ago." Niu Er pointed far away.
The direction he pointed to was a city adjacent to their border town, and the general stationed there was Wang Qingyun.
The Turks entered the city, plundered it, and then left. They rode their horses back and forth as if they were in an empty city. Wang Qingyun and his soldiers retreated again and again, and many of them ran away. In short, the city was in chaos, let alone resisting the invasion of the Turks.
In the end, it was Yuan Kang's soldiers who went there and barely repelled the Turks. They were like slippery loaches, burrowing into the grass and disappearing.
"It's better to die in battle than to starve or freeze to death." Niu Er spat.
Except for Yuan Kang's extremely strict rule and daily training of soldiers, the soldiers of the Great Zhou seemed to be like Wang Qingyun's subordinates. When the previous emperor was in power, he issued an edict to let the generals rotate to guard the city from time to time. However, the emperor was far away and the mountains were high. The emperor's edict was at the border, so the execution was just so-so.
During the winter months when the Turks were invading, General Yuan was once again popular. After all, who could refuse a neighbor who was always ready to help? They didn't have to do anything; they just had to wait for General Yuan's troops to arrive.
In the past, Yuan Kang wanted to change but was powerless.
....
Liu Shan and Niu Er were standing there when a messenger suddenly came over and said to them, "Hurry up and eat! I'll take your place for a while. You two will still be guarding outside this afternoon."
As soon as he opened his mouth, he exhaled clouds of hot air, obviously he had just eaten.
"Why?" Liu Shan glared.
The soldier who delivered the message said, "The youngest and his men were killed by the Turks."
The two people who were about to glare at each other stopped talking.
In this desolate place, these people have more or less developed feelings for each other.
"Are they okay...?" Niu Er asked.
The soldier was about to speak when he suddenly thought of something and pushed him away. "Hurry up and eat. Those thugs will grab everything soon! The youngest and the others... you'll know when you go and see!"
Liu Shan had a hunch that something was wrong with the soldier today. "Pockmarked, why are you so happy today?"
The soldier had pockmarks on his face and had no name when he came. Over time, everyone called him Pockmarked.
He was still young and couldn't keep secrets, so he excitedly said, "You'll know when you get there. The general brought a new kind of food from the capital. I've never eaten anything so delicious since I was born. I feel so warm all over now. That's delicious..."
Face? Both of them were stunned.
Is Ma Zi hysterical from the cold?! How can they eat noodles?
Not to mention noodles, even drinking thicker porridge was a luxury for them. Last year, they survived by relying on bowls of multi-grain porridge as thin as water and wild vegetables and tree bark.
...
The two men put their hands in their clothes, exchanged places with Ma Zi and the others, and walked inside against the cold wind.
But this cold wind was very different from before. They smelled... why was there a fragrance?!
The fragrance rushed into their noses, like the smell of meat, and there was also a spicy taste of dogwood that made people's mouths water... It was hot and fragrant, and they wanted to breathe in the smell in big gulps, so that after inhaling the cold wind, the stinging sensation of coldness and the fragrant aroma mixed together.
Niu Er said in a daze, "I heard from my mother that people will have hallucinations when they starve to death."
Until the two of them walked to the place where the cook usually put the big pot, they saw that the place was surrounded by people in three layers.
"Go away, everyone who has finished eating, get out!" Yuan Sheng shouted loudly.
Even so, the soldiers couldn't help but use their eyes to repeatedly depict the steaming noodles bubbling in the pot.
When Niu Er and Liu Shan squeezed in, there was not much left.
The cook scooped a bowl for each of them and gave them half a spoonful of vegetable soup.
Liu Shan picked up the bowl and poured it into his mouth. The noodle soup was dark in color, which was enough to show that it had been added with other ingredients. He took a big gulp and it burned his tongue.
fragrant!
“It has a flavor…it has a flavor…”
Everyone thought so. In this era, the most delicious things they could get were only vinegar cloth and coarse salt. Even coarse salt was extremely precious and difficult for ordinary soldiers to obtain.
They couldn't even get enough food to eat.
Staying like this at the border for a long time leads to malnutrition and lack of food and clothing. Not to mention fighting and defending the city, even surviving the winter is a problem.
....
The noodles were much more fragrant than they smelled, with a spicy taste and a hint of meat, salty and fragrant. Liu Shan almost greedily drank a few big mouthfuls of soup before eating the noodles.
The cook explained that this was something called "hui mian," and that the border was cold and dry, so it could be stored for a long time. Simply add the ingredients and noodles to a large pot, add water, and cook, and you'll have a delicious dish without much trouble.
Yuan Sheng explained again and again that there was plenty of stewed noodles and they could be mixed with food, and then drove the soldiers back to their positions.
In fact, there are many such blocks of materials. Considering that the spleen and stomach of these soldiers have not consumed oily and salty foods for a long time and may not be able to withstand it, Yan Xuanyu specifically said that less blocks of materials made from gravy and other materials should be used.
But even if a small amount is put in, it is still the most flavorful and delicious delicacy for the soldiers.
...
The soldiers who usually obeyed Yuan Sheng's orders were particularly difficult to control today. It was an hour and a half later when Yuan Sheng returned to the city.
"Any more? Give me a bowl too. Seeing them eating is making me so greedy." Yuan Sheng sat down on the long bench carelessly.
The development of the border areas was backward, and even the general of a city like Yuan Kang had a mansion that was not luxurious at all. It could not even be called a "mansion", but only a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
Yuan Kang sat behind the desk reading military intelligence letters, and Yuan Xun brought him a bowl of steaming hot noodles.
The bowl was so big that Yuan Shengle narrowed his eyes and started to drink it with a gulp.
"readily!"
Yuan Sheng couldn't help but exclaim how satisfying it was to have a bowl of hot and tasty noodles in winter.
It’s no wonder that the soldiers looked like that. Even he couldn’t even raise his head because of eating so much.
"Brother, what happened in the capital? Why did His Majesty give us so many good things this time?" Yuan Sheng asked.
It doesn't look like the style of Beijing.
He was completely puzzled, but also felt a little relieved.
Aren't the other generals all waiting to see them make a fool of themselves? If those people knew what they were eating and what supplies they had, they would regret it to death.
Because returning to Beijing to report on his work was something that everyone knew tacitly—
This represents the "surrender" of the military generals. All under heaven belongs to the king, and it stands to reason that the word "surrender" is a very inappropriate term. However, the current situation is that the civil officials are in control of the capital, and these rough guys have formed their own faction outside.
Yuan Sheng originally thought that the emperor was too confused. If their city was breached, wouldn’t the entire Zhou be in trouble?
The capital is surrounded by high mountains and long roads, so we don’t know the situation at the border, but this group of people knows.
The Turkic king has been seriously ill, and now the Turkic prince is in power. This prince is not one to sit still! Just as winter began this year, several groups of Turks came to harass and plunder the border areas around Da Zhou.
It’s a pity that the people in the capital don’t know what they are thinking. They just want to strengthen their own faction while weakening the generals. The emperor also thinks so, which has led to the Great Zhou army becoming weaker and weaker.
Yuan Kang's subordinates also became weak in this way. They couldn't even eat, so how could they train without strength?
As Yuan Sheng ate his noodles, he thought of the soldiers' genuine joy that he had just seen. He felt a little emotional. If only it could always be like this...
When they were well fed, they had more energy to train and defeat the Turks.
...
Before Yuan Sheng finished his noodles, Yuan Kang asked him and Yuan Xun to go over.
Yuan Sheng and Yuan Xun were orphans who lived with Yuan Kang. Yuan Kang had no relatives, and the two of them had become Yuan Kang's most trusted family members.
"This kind of bread is easy to carry and cook, and it can be eaten for a long time..." Yuan Kang said, "But we can't always rely on the food brought from the capital. This kind of easy-to-carry dry food will be very useful when we fight the Turks in the future."
fight?
Yuan Xun captured these two words accurately.
"Once the Turkic prince becomes the Turkic king, he will definitely attack the border of the Great Zhou first." Yuan Sheng frowned and said, "Brothers, it's time to train."
As the three were talking, a messenger soldier suddenly came in and said that General Wang Qingyun had arrived.
"Why is he here?" Yuan Xun still remembered the last time they were besieged by the Turks and how miserable they were. "I thought General Wang wouldn't dare show up for at least a few months."
Yuan Kang heard his mumbling clearly. He raised his hand and slapped Yuan Xun, "Go, all of you start practicing as I say."
"Yes." The two men saluted with serious expressions and clasped their fists.
Yuan Sheng went out with the large bowl in his hand and happened to meet Wang Qingyun and his group who were coming towards him.
"What's that, General Yuan?" Wang Qingyun asked with a smile.
"General, there is a new food in our city, called stewed noodles." Yuan Sheng said it openly without any intention of hiding it.
"Noodles?" Wang Qingyun's smile faded. "How did you eat noodles?"
He looked at Yuan Kang in disbelief. This eccentric general, who strictly matched his living standards with those of ordinary soldiers, was supposed to one day be eating noodles made from wheat flour?!
"Yes." Yuan Sheng said with a forced smile, "This is the food that His Majesty gave us when the general came to the capital this time."
He said this frankly, not afraid of others coveting it at all.
What a joke! Even if Wang Qingyun had this idea, would he dare to challenge Yuan Kang?
Wang Qingyun didn't know what he was thinking, but he smiled again, "Congratulations, General Yuan."
The border cities all received a share of the grain and fodder that was shipped in batches this time, and there was also a handwritten order from His Majesty, so there was no way Yuan Kang could have kept any of it for himself. The fact was just as Yuan Sheng said, this cake was given exclusively to Yuan Kang.
As he spoke, the aroma of noodles from Yuan Sheng's hand penetrated Wang Qingyun's nose, and he couldn't help but look at it several times.
"I have something important to discuss with General Wang. You two should go down first," Yuan Kang said in a deep voice. He glanced at Wang Qingyun, who was almost squinting, and said, "Bring another bowl of noodles to General Wang."
Of course, it is not a rare thing for Wang Qingyun. Even at the border, he is a general, and he is not as strict with himself as Yuan Kang. It’s just that Yuan Kang’s noodles are too evil, and the fragrance goes straight into people’s brains!
Wang Qingyun was naturally delighted when he heard Yuan Kang's words. He didn't expect that he would receive such an unexpected surprise when he came to Yuan Kang's place.
After the two entered the house, Wang Qingyun told them the purpose of their trip.
The Turks are not stupid, on the contrary they are very smart. The soldiers in the city where Wang Qingyun is located are the weakest, and the terrain outside is also the most favorable for the Turks, so they go there to plunder again and again.
Even a clay figure has a temper, let alone the cunning Turks, whose repeated invasions left Wang Qingyun unable to cope.
"You said you want to take the initiative against the Turks?" Yuan Kang looked at Wang Qingyun with a curious look.
"Yes." Wang Qingyun vowed, "Now that the Turkic king is critically ill, this is a good time."
They currently have enough food and supplies for their soldiers, and Wang Qingyun mainly wants to borrow troops from Yuan Kang.
"Please let me think about this matter." Yuan Kang said.
Wang Qingyun didn't expect him to agree immediately, so he just waited for Yuan Xun to bring the noodles and started to eat them with relish.
The more he ate, the more regret he felt in his heart. If he had known that he could eat this thing by showing his loyalty to the little emperor, he would have done it!
...
Before Yuan Kang left Beijing, Yan Xuanyu told him that all movements in the border town must be reported to him.
Yan Xuanyu took the letter off Haidongqing and put it in front of the candlestick to heat it. The words on the originally blank paper immediately appeared.
Yan Xuanyu read through the entire article at a glance and frowned at the end.
He didn't think it was a good idea to attack the Turks now, but the Turks had invaded repeatedly, and it would be unreasonable not to fight back.
The Turkic prince...
Yan Xuanyu closed his eyes and recalled that he only remembered that there was one person in the original owner's memory.
Ashina Ziluo.
He was the new king of the Turks.
This man was extremely scheming and hypocritical. His father and brother both died at his hands.
If there were more... Yan Xuanyu couldn't remember it, or maybe it was because the original owner had nothing to do with the subsequent plot.
He quickly wrote down what he could now recall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
