Originally, Liu Zhang had already walked out of the cottage, but when he saw A Rao pause slightly and seemed to want to stay and listen to the lecture, he turned back to look at Uncle Ling in confusion.
Uncle Ling was slightly surprised, then asked in a deep voice, "Why does Your Highness the Third Prince want to know the story of the Dongyi people?"
Murong Yao said calmly, "A few days ago, a friend recommended the story of 'Joining the Army in My Father' to me.' This prince found the story quite fascinating. I heard it was based on the true history of the Dongyi people, so I wanted to learn more about it."
At this time, Ye Wanqing also said: "A Rao also likes the story of "Joining the Army in Place of My Father"."
She tilted her head and smiled as she told Murong Yan, who was sitting next to her, "She most hopes to become General Yuewei, who joins the army and fights for her father."
"The little girl has quite great ambitions." Murong Yan looked back at Ye Wanqing and saw that she was talking to him enthusiastically about A Rao's ideals, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.
A Rao's face changed slightly as she stood on the curved bridge outside the small building. Ever since she was injured by the masked master and force-fed muscle softening powder by Liu Zhang, she suffered a great blow and began to question the martial arts she had learned more and more.
Now that her own prince mentioned her ambition, she suddenly felt frustrated and her eyes became moist.
She saw Liu Zhang standing on the curved bridge, lowered his head to adjust his mood, raised his eyes and asked him: "Master Liu, aren't you going to the bathroom? Why are you stopping?"
Liu Zhang also heard what Ye Wanqing said. Looking at A Rao's red eyes, he felt a mixture of emotions. He said coldly, "I just stood up to get some fresh air. I don't want to go to the bathroom anymore. Go back and continue grinding ink for me."
After saying that, he took A Rao's hand and returned to the cottage.
When Uncle Ling saw Liu Zhang coming back quickly, he became irritated again, but he saw the young men in the hall begging him to tell them the story of "Joining the Army for My Father".
"It just so happens that Lord Liu is also well-read in famous historical books. Why not let Lord Liu tell everyone this story?"
Liu Zhang glanced at A Rao and said in a sullen tone, "Unfortunately, I haven't read this story. Why don't you, my uncle, tell me the story first?"
"You!" Ling Guojiu glared angrily, gritting his teeth and saying, "This story is about a lovestruck female general and a heartless man. You won't like it!"
"Oh?" Murong Yao suddenly became interested. "The book never mentioned it. Where did the term 'heartless man' come from?"
"Of course it won't be mentioned in the book. Stories are just stories, made up to begin with. People only believe what they want to see." Uncle Ling sighed coldly, "Whatever the ultimate truth is, it doesn't matter."
"Uncle, please stop keeping us in suspense and tell us quickly. We're actually even more interested now that you've said that." Murong Yan also immediately became interested and said, "I heard that you traveled to many countries in your youth and experienced many adventures. Tell me, did you ever fight alongside that legendary female general?"
"Really?" All the young masters showed an expression of admiration, "Uncle Ling, please tell us this story!"
"Not really, but we've met a few times." Seeing that everyone was very interested, Uncle Ling had to frown and start talking.
"A long, long time ago, there lived a martial arts family in Dongyi. The patriarch was a highly skilled martial artist, loyal and courageous. With his iron-hearted and silver-sword-wielding spear, no one could defeat him. He could take the heads of enemy generals amidst a vast army as easily as taking something from a sack."
Liu Zhang asked doubtfully, "Iron-hearted silver spear?"
Seeing Liu Zhang interrupting again, Uncle Ling angrily asked, "Master Liu, why don't you come and talk?"
Murong Yan quickly dissuaded him, "Don't interrupt, don't interrupt."
"Sorry, go on." Liu Zhang made an apologetic gesture, sat upright at the desk and stopped talking.
Ling Guojiu suppressed his anger and continued, "The old patriarch had a son and a daughter, both of whom were heroes and extremely brave. Unfortunately, in a conflict between the Dongyi and the Dongning Prefecture of Haoyue Kingdom, the old patriarch lost a leg and has been unable to fight in battle since then."
"Over twenty years ago, the Yanyang and Haoyue nations clashed again over their northeastern territories. War between the Dongyi and Dongning prefectures was imminent, and the imperial court conscripted Dongyi warriors to fight the enemy. The old patriarch, a military householder, was among those sent out, but he had lost his leg, and if he went back on the battlefield, he would surely die."
Everyone's thoughts followed the voice of Uncle Ling and came to the Dongyi City where the war drums were beating.
Dongyi City of Yanyang Kingdom and Dongning Prefecture of Haoyue Kingdom are separated by only a river. The raging waves roll up mud and sand and hit the gravel beach. Huge sailboats are connected together on the river. On the decks, teams of soldiers are training intensively.
On the black sailboat near the river bank, the new recruits were holding the conscription orders issued by the court to each household and undergoing registration.
The female soldier, wearing a high ponytail, dark bronze armor, and holding an iron-clad silver spear, slapped the conscription order in her hand at the registration office.
The military household traveling with her told the captain that her father had lost his leg in the last battle, and her younger brother was only ten years old and was unable to go into battle.
So the fifteen-year-old General Yuewei put on his father's armor and took his father's silver spear and came to sign up for the army. Despite the constant ridicule, General Yuewei conquered the men on the boat with his martial arts.
Dongyi City primarily trained its navy, who not only had to battle the raging waves but also the ironclad warships of Dongning Prefecture. Battlefields were often a life-or-death struggle. At that time, the Dongyi navy was crushed, with only 30,000 remaining out of 300,000. The Nu River was awash with blood, and everywhere was a scene of corpses washed ashore by the churning waters.
Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the Lord of Dongyi City abandoned the city and fled with his personal soldiers.
However, General Yuewei led 10,000 remaining troops to fight to the death. They were besieged by the armored soldiers of Haoyue Kingdom for three months. They were short of water and food. 10,000 soldiers were killed in battle or starved to death. In the end, only a few hundred people were left, but they still refused to surrender.
The war raged from autumn to winter, while the Dongning army outside the city happily roasted fires and ate hot meat soup. Meanwhile, the hundreds of soldiers inside the city suffered from hunger and cold, with no reinforcements arriving and the last warhorse devoured.
General Yuewei stood on the top of the city wall with a gun in hand, looking at the lifeless Dongyi City with a gloomy expression. The clamor and calls for surrender from the bottom of the city wall had been going on for dozens of days, but the Dongning Army was unable to break through this city defended by hundreds of people.
Perhaps God was moved by General Yuewei's indomitable spirit, and that winter was exceptionally cold, so cold that the surging river surface froze, and so cold that the Dongning Army's armor stuck to their flesh.
Hundreds of armored warships hit the ice and could not move. The Dongning Army's supply team was unable to transport supplies to the river bank of Dongyi City. Thousands of Dongning soldiers soon starved to death or froze to death on the mudflats outside Dongyi City.
Not long after, the Lord of Dongyi City returned with reinforcements. Seeing that Dongyi City was still standing, he immediately rewarded General Yuewei as the Vanguard General of Dongyi.
In this battle, General Yuewei turned defeat into victory by taking advantage of the time and place, and became famous.
General Yuewei did not become complacent because of this achievement. Instead, he learned from the lesson of this defeat and trained the navy day after day, cultivating a group of elite soldiers who could be used both on land and on water.
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