Chapter 36
The Qiu family army won a great victory. General Qiu Shan sent scouts to rush the battle report back over 800 miles and requested the court to increase the support of food and military pay in the rear. He was ready to make a concerted effort and lead the Qiu family army to drive the enemy back to the grassland.
The great victory of the Qiu family army prevented the enemy from continuing to advance southward. The court was naturally delighted. After all, no one knew whether the barbaric and powerful grassland people would march straight down to the outside of the imperial city if no one stopped the enemy, endangering the already weak current regime. There were also cases in history of the Five Barbarians invading China and committing acts of perverse acts to seize the Han people's world.
However, regarding General Qiu Shan's request to continue fighting in the battle report, the emperor on the dragon throne showed hesitation, and the voices of other ministers were not unanimous.
Most of the military generals supported continuing the fight and fighting hard, but the civil officials headed by Prime Minister Zhao Hui had different opinions.
The morning court session of that day ended with noisy arguments among civil officials and military officers.
The film critics frowned, not understanding why the civil officials wanted to stop the troops from being dispatched, so they suppressed their doubts and continued to read on.
For the next few days, the court was in a state of debate over whether the Qiu family army should pursue the victory.
The civil service quoted from classics, and in the court, Prime Minister Zhao Hui was in high spirits, as if he truly served the public:
"Your Majesty, I disagree with General Qiu's decision to send troops. The treasury is empty, and natural disasters are constant. The people are already struggling to survive. If we recruit soldiers now, we have neither food nor manpower. If we force young men to join the army, I'm afraid the people will compare Your Majesty to Jie and Zhou!"
"Furthermore, even though the enemy has retreated, it doesn't mean they are truly no match for our army. I've heard that the enemy's Iron Pagoda is a battle-hardened army. It was with the help of the Iron Pagoda that they swept across the grasslands and forced the remaining tribes to surrender."
"They want a truce now, but if we press them too hard, they'll be doomed and utterly defeated. It's unclear who will emerge victorious in the end."
"If General Qiu is defeated, the consequences will be disastrous. I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid that after General Qiu, there will be no general who can resist the enemy. I am worried about Your Majesty and the prosperity of our dynasty that has lasted for three hundred years."
"If the country and its people are truly destroyed in our hands, I will die with my eyes wide open, speechless before the late emperor and my ancestors."
"Your Majesty, please think twice!"
The military generals had only one reason: "Opportunity is fleeting. Now that General Qiu has turned the tide, all they have to do is scare off the enemies who have been raiding south every year."
Although the generals who requested to fight were all righteous, the camera showed their private conversations with their subordinates, and the audience also knew that these generals were not wholeheartedly serving the public.
Some generals, like General Qiu Shan, have always had the long-cherished wish to recover the old mountains and rivers, and they are unwilling to miss the opportunity when it finally comes.
Another part of the military generals had simply been suppressed by the civil officials for a long time, and wanted to follow General Qiu Shan and gain some military merits by attacking the enemy so that they could get promoted and make money.
However, regardless of their original intentions, compared with the peace advocates headed by the civil service group, these military generals who dared to fight still had some backbone.
In particular, through the change of perspective, the audience also understood this group of civil officials who had their own ulterior motives.
It turned out that Prime Minister Zhao Hui was unwilling to let General Qiu lead the troops because he was afraid that General Qiu would have control of the military power and endanger his position and rights.
The other civil officials either obeyed Zhao Hui's orders, or simply did not want the military generals who had been suppressed by them to have the opportunity to stand out, so they all chose to stand on Zhao Hui's side.
[The country is in turmoil, and yet these ministers are only thinking about their own interests. How despicable, pathetic, and hateful.]
[Ahhh, when will this bastard die? ]
[What about the emperor? He can't possibly also have a cerebral thrombosis, right? Damn.]
What was the emperor doing at this moment? He was being waited on by the chief eunuchs and had the leisure to practice calligraphy.
The finest goat-hair brush was dipped in thick ink and spread on the rice paper. The strokes were smooth and the elegant font attracted people's attention, but the audience had no time to appreciate it.
There is only one "dragon" character on the rice paper, looking very majestic and graceful.
"How is my handwriting?"
"Your Majesty is a true dragon, so your calligraphy is naturally the best in the world."
"You're quite talkative."
The emperor threw the brush aside, looked out the window with his hands behind his back, and said silently: "I am the true dragon emperor, so why are you two here?"
The eunuch lowered his head, sweating profusely. He dared not speak or even look up, for fear that he would lose his head if he said something wrong.
The emperor didn't want to listen to the eunuch's words. He narrowed his eyes and said to himself, "There can only be one ruler of the world. It's such a simple truth, why do some people just not understand it?"
Now that the two kidnapped saints have been brought back, how should the new emperor cope with the situation?
"Xiao Shunzi, what do you think I should do?"
The eunuch fell to his knees and kowtowed to the emperor with all his might: "I deserve death. Your Majesty, please spare my life for the sake of my loyalty."
"You say you deserve to die, yet you want to live. Everyone in the world is just one-sided. I wonder how much of this was in General Qiu's private and public service when he held the tiger talisman?"
What does the Dog Emperor mean by this?
There is a saying in ancient times: "Achievements so great that they shock the ruler."
General Qiu has no selfish motives. He's devoted to his country, but these idiot teammates are doubting his loyalty from behind the scenes. I'm going to curse you!
[The mountains and rivers are in tatters, a bunch of scoundrels are still tearing them apart, only General Qiu is patching them up. I feel sorry for my general.]
However, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to come.
Because the civil servants were more eloquent, and the selfish emperor took sides, the peace faction won, and the emperor issued an imperial decree ordering the Qiu family army to withdraw and return to the capital.
Just as the audience guessed, when General Qiu received the imperial edict, the general who was fearless in the face of the enemy and death, his hands trembled as he received the edict.
He looked up at where the enemy was, and realized that if he let the enemy leave this time and gave them a few years to recuperate, when they moved south again, countless people would suffer.
Coming out of the tent, his generals came forward and eagerly asked, "General, when will the battle begin?"
The generals had no idea that the civil servants and the emperor in the court did not want them to continue fighting.
After a long silence, during which the generals felt a wave of uneasiness, General Qiu finally spoke in a hushed voice, firmly stating, "Tomorrow we will begin the war. They dare to humiliate our people and trample upon our land. I will not allow them to return!"
The audience was delighted to see General Qiu prepared to disobey the order and continue to fight the enemy.
[I knew General Qiu was mighty and powerful. Aww!]
[That's how it should be. Damn imperial edict, damn emperor, get down on your knees.]
Qiu Shan knew what it meant to disobey the imperial order. He was prepared to take full responsibility from now on. He also understood that the imperial court would not provide support and that food and grass would also be a problem. He had to fight quickly and decisively before the imperial court made a more drastic response.
The enemy was able to seize half of the country and capture two emperors. This was due to the weakness of the imperial army on the one hand and the strength of the enemy army on the other.
The Qiu family army was able to repel them, but could not truly conquer and annihilate the enemy army in a short period of time.
When the news of the renewed war and the interim results of the battle reached the court, everyone from the emperor to the prime minister looked gloomy.
The court had no choice but to send people to urge the Qiu family army to cease fire and return to the court!
One day, a golden medal bestowed by the emperor himself was sent out by express horse from the imperial city. Qiu Shan received nine golden medals in nine consecutive days. Even though he wanted to conceal it, the news that the court ordered them to cease fighting still spread.
Even with Qiu Shan in charge, the army began to panic.
After all, this was an era where imperial power was supreme. To ordinary soldiers, the emperor was the sky, and the emperor's words were golden words. Even the well-trained Qiu family army did not dare to disobey the emperor's orders.
In the soldiers' beliefs, they were defending their country, avenging the tragic deaths of civilians and compatriots, and protecting their families and homes. They couldn't understand why the court wanted them to go back when they were clearly doing the right thing, even risking their lives to fight the enemy.
The soldiers' faith was shaken unconsciously.
They were even more afraid that if they continued fighting, the imperial court would later charge them with treason. It didn't matter if they died, but they didn't want to implicate their families. You know, rebels will punish all nine generations of their clan.
Qiu Shan stood on the high platform and said in a voice as resounding as a bell: "My fellow soldiers, regarding today's events, when we return to the court, Qiu Shan will personally apologize to the emperor. I will bear all the responsibility and will not implicate the soldiers."
"You are good men who defend our country. Your Majesty, this general, and the people will all be proud of you."
"The enemy came south and killed too many of our people. Wildfire cannot extinguish it, and spring breeze brings it back to life. (Note) If we don't eliminate them completely, we won't be able to appease the souls of the people above us. If we don't eliminate them completely, when they come back, more of our relatives will be persecuted by them."
"I ask all the soldiers to lend me a helping hand to completely wipe out those jackals and bring peace to the world!"
There was a deathly silence at first, and then slowly, some soldiers shouted: "We are willing to advance and retreat with the general."
One person's voice, two people's voices, more and more voices, until tens of thousands of people shouted together, and their voices gathered above the city.
The audience breathed a sigh of relief. The shaken military morale was temporarily stabilized with the appearance of General Qiu, but there were still hidden dangers, just like the increasingly deep furrow between General Qiu Shan's brows.
[It's only the Nine Golden Medals now. If the imperial court continues to put pressure on us, even with General Qiu stepping in, I'm afraid...]
In the picture, as the emperor was furious at Qiu Shan for disobeying his orders in the court, the tenth golden medal was issued.
[What should I do? Who can stop this gold medal? ]
[One month, no, giving the Qiu family army another half a month will be enough!]
Perhaps the director heard the fans' prayers in advance, and an accident actually happened to the tenth gold medal that was rushed 800 miles.
The starless and moonless night was extremely quiet, with only the irritating chirping of insects. In the sparsely populated wilderness, the sound of horses' hooves echoing from far away in the empty fields was particularly vivid.
With a rumbling sound, muffled thunder sounded, followed by bright lightning. With the help of the lightning, several galloping horses and the figures on them could be seen clearly.
Wearing armor and holding long swords, under the bright illumination of lightning, the waist badges that symbolized their identities flashed by.
Seeing that heavy rain was approaching, the group had no intention of stopping to take shelter.
The leading soldier raised the whip in his hand high and then brought it down hard. The horse, which was obviously tired and had slowed down its pace, started running quickly again under the stimulation of the pain.
Amidst the rumbling thunder, the messenger's hoarse voice rang out: "Push faster. We must reach the next post station before midnight, change horses, and get back on the road."
The thunder brought strong winds, shaking the trees on both sides of the official road. The ferocious shadows of the trees looked like giant beasts with their mouths open.
The messenger shook his head, trying to get rid of the messy thoughts in his mind, but the next second, his eyes suddenly widened.
The messenger hurriedly tightened the reins, the horse braked suddenly, and the messenger's upper body jumped high into the air.
On the road ahead, which had just been empty, several people wearing straw raincoats and hats blocked the horses' way.
"I planted this tree, I opened this road."
"If you want to pass through here, you must leave money for passage."
The messenger's eyes glared, and he shouted, "Where did you get these blind bandits? Look carefully, this officer is carrying an urgent imperial decree personally approved by the Emperor, which has traveled 800 miles. If you don't want to lose your head, get out of the way immediately!"
The messengers on the two horses behind him also said in unison: "If you don't want to die, get out of the way quickly."
They are not afraid of bandits. Even the most vicious bandits dare not go against the court and rob the emperor's things. No matter how many lives they lose, they will not be enough!
Unexpectedly, upon hearing the messenger's words, the Jianghu man sneered and drew his sword: "Grandpa is robbing you today."
A cold light flashed, blood splattered, the necks of the three horses were broken, and the messengers fell down with their horses, with warm horse blood splattered all over their bodies and faces.
"You sons of bitches of the imperial court, put down what you are holding and I will spare your lives."
Dense raindrops fell down, the swordsman opened his hands, and the powder fell along his loose palms, and was washed away to an unknown direction by the gathered water.
"I thought it was made of real gold, but it turned out to be just wood coated with gold powder."
"It's done, go back."
"I don't know when this rain will stop."
The water droplets on the bamboo hat flew out obliquely, and the figures of several martial artists whose faces could not be seen disappeared from sight again.
【Master! 】
[At critical moments, the heroes are still reliable. I give a thumbs up to them. ]
[This rubbish emperor must be pissed off. I'm happy when he's angry, hehe.]
The audience guessed correctly. Qiu Shan's disobedience to the emperor's order had already brought him to the brink of an explosion. Now, the gangsters showed up again to make trouble and robbed the gold medal that urged Qiu Shan to return.
Even the emperor, who was usually very pretentious, couldn't help but lose his temper in the imperial study. Even his favorite inkstone was accidentally dropped and smashed to pieces along with other things.
Emperor: ...Looking at Yantai who died with his eyes open, his face turned even darker.
The emperor waved his sleeves and kicked the eunuch to vent his anger: "Waste, all of you are waste."
The eunuch did not dare to evade the question and could only kowtow and repeat: "I am guilty, I am a worthless slave, I am guilty."
When he was tired of kicking, the emperor waved his sleeves, sat back in his chair, exhaled, and then said loudly: "Come, pass on my order."
If the tenth gold medal is intercepted, then the eleventh one will be issued.
As for those gangsters, he will deal with them after he stabilizes the court!
Since the messenger had no martial arts skills and the gold medal could be easily stolen, Zhao Hui suggested that several more people with martial arts skills be included in the escort of the token, all of whom were warriors trained by the court.
Shaolin is a pure place of Buddhism, and the Buddha statues in the hall are solemn and majestic.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
The calming rhythmic sound of the wooden fish gradually died down, and the abbot, clad in a cassock, slowly opened his eyes. "Amitabha, benefactors, I'm sorry to have waited so long."
The Taoist priest in the front, wearing a Taoist robe and with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, also chanted a Buddhist name, and then got straight to the point:
"Not long ago, news arrived from the Beggars' Sect's Beijing branch that a fast horse carrying a gold medal has galloped out again and will reach the foot of the mountain within two days."
If they move forward at the speed of a fast horse, they will reach the Yellow River within a day, which means that the eleventh gold medal will be sent to the location of the Qiu family army.
If they want to intercept the gold medal, the best time will be when the group passes by two days later.
Master Yuanhui clasped his hands together and chanted the Buddha's name again: "Master, have you thought it through? If you really want to intervene and oppose the imperial court, if you stop now, the imperial court may not pursue you, but if you continue to obstruct, there will be no turning back."
"If we stop now and turn back, when the enemy marches south, countless people will be left homeless. Has Master Yuanhui changed his mind?"
The host slowly hung the rosary beads on his wrist and raised his drooping eyelids. There was no cloudiness in his old eyes, but instead they seemed to be burning with two blazing flames.
"The Buddha is merciful, but also has the wrath of a diamond. Shaolin Temple has been passed down to this day, and there are still countless novice monks in the temple. I cannot risk the lives of all the monks in the temple."
"Master, you..." Behind the Taoist priest in white, an impatient man in the martial arts world couldn't help but wanted to speak, but was stopped in time by his companions.
The Taoist priest did not say anything, and the host did not explain. He just smiled calmly at the young man who had just glared at him.
The old monk slowly took off his cassock and passed his staff to his fellow apprentice beside him: "From today on, Yuantong will take over Shaolin as the abbot. Yuanhui's six senses are not pure, and he has defected from Shaolin today."
Monk Yuanhui left Shaolin with Taoist Master Zhang.
Six people gathered together in a mansion at the foot of Shaolin.
The tenth and eleventh gold medals were intercepted by people from the martial arts world one after another, and the first- and second-rate warriors who escorted the gold medals were all defeated. The twelfth gold medal was sent out again, and at the same time, the news of the person who was to be the escort was spread to everyone through the Beggar Gang's news network.
Obviously, the emperor was really angry. Whether for the dignity of the court or to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, the court spent a lot of money.
All the masters of the imperial court were dispatched. Nine masters were divided into nine groups and carried the twelfth golden medal from nine different routes to the location of the Qiu family army to read the emperor's order. If the Qiu family army disobeyed the order, they even had the right to execute them first and report later.
The nine palace masters are also top-notch fighters in the martial arts world, and their martial arts skills are no worse than those of Taoist Zhang and Master Yuanhui. For various reasons, they defected to the court and were driven by the court.
At this moment, there are only six masters in the room who are in the alliance that robbed the gold medal. They are headed by the Wudang Taoist priest and the Shaolin Master Yuanhui. The other four are tall female knights carrying silver spears. They are the role models of female knights in the martial arts world. A silver spear can shake the world of injustice. Next to her is the Holy Maiden of the Five Immortals Sect, dressed in Miao style, with a long whip hanging around her waist, silver ornaments and a poisonous spider on her head.
Opposite the two women were two men. One of them was dressed in white and had a handsome face. There were two maces on the table. His surname was Qin and he was said to be a descendant of Qin Shubao, a great general in the Sui and Tang dynasties.
The person next to Qin Zhan was full of murderous intent, and the blade of the giant axe next to him seemed to be stained with the blood of an unknown beast.
Butcher Bao, whose face bore the symbol of an exiled criminal, spoke in a deep voice, "My family was once murdered by bandits, and exiled to a border town. Fortunately, I met the Yue family. They didn't care about my past and even allowed me and my wife to marry."
"I don't care about this damn imperial court. I just want to run the shop passed down from the Yue family with my wife."
"If my lady hadn't asked me to come, I wouldn't care about the flood."
"My wife is still waiting for me at home. If you can't even gather everyone together, I will just go home and make love with my wife."
The ferocious face of Bao the butcher swept over the people present one by one, and finally fell on the Taoist priest.
Before the Taoist priest could speak, the aroma of meat wafted into everyone's noses. The window was pushed open, and an old beggar sat unruly on the window frame while munching on a chicken leg.
"Oh, so your wife is a righteous woman. If she knew that you, the butcher, had deserted the battlefield, she would probably take the children and divorce you when she got home."
"You old beggar are looking for death!" Butcher Bao's eyes turned fierce and he raised his hand to grasp the axe handle.
"Tsk tsk, what a joke! What a vicious man! You are an old beggar. Didn't your wife teach you to respect the elderly and love the young? Okay, okay, here they come. Don't worry. Once the beating is over, I will let you go home to your wife and children."
"Hahaha, what the old beggar said is right. I am the Tiger King of the Black Wind Stronghold of White Tiger Mountain. I heard that you have a big deal here, so I came here. Tell me quickly, where is the gold medal now? I will go and grab it back to support the stronghold."
A dark-skinned, tall man who looked like a brown bear hill, kicked open the door of the Juyi Hall with a sledgehammer and walked into the hall leisurely. The ground seemed to shake with every step he took. It was obvious that he was also a heavyweight player like a butcher.
The moment the butcher and the Tiger King's eyes met, a fighting spirit flashed in their eyes, but when they thought of the purpose of this trip, it quickly subsided.
The original six people, together with the beggar and the Tiger King, intercepted them separately, and now only the last person is left.
However, from early morning to noon, time passed by minute by minute, and when everyone was about to set off, there was no sign of the last person. Except for Taoist Zhang and Master Yuanhui, the others all looked grim.
The Tiger King paced back and forth anxiously: "Are they coming? I hate waiting all the time. If all else fails, let's just go. At worst, I can take on two of them alone and beat them all to death before they cross the Yellow River."
The old beggar stopped eating meat and drinking wine. He raised his head and looked into the distance.
"Master Zhang?" The young descendant of Qin Qiong couldn't help but speak out in worry.
Taoist Zhang frowned. There were only a few martial arts masters, and they all had their own considerations for coming or not. Not to mention whether they would be retaliated by the court in the future, even snatching food from the hands of the masters of the palace was not an easy task. If they were not careful, they would lose their lives. Therefore, they would not blame anyone even if they did not come.
But as the number of people gradually increased and only one person was left, he would not be willing to accept the failure of this operation because of this one person.
There was really no other way, so they had to follow Tiger King's advice and have eight of them fight against nine. They had to give it a try.
"Everyone..."
"Oh, they are all here." Just when Taoist Zhang thought that no one else would come and was about to activate the alternative plan, a strange voice that was neither male nor female sounded in the room.
The eight people all looked towards the source of the sound. A slender figure, shrouded in a black robe, suddenly appeared and looked at the map placed in the center of the table.
"I heard that you know the whereabouts of our traitor. Where will the traitor appear tomorrow? Will you tell me?"
After saying this, the black-robed man seemed to have just noticed the two people in the first place. He sneered from under the black robe: "A big-nosed man, a big monk, and a room full of all kinds of people, this combination is quite novel."
Even Taoist Zhang of Wudang and Master Yuanhui were slightly stunned. They never expected that the last person would be the notorious and moody leader of the demon cult, Shura Hand.
Regardless, everyone is here.
As the cups and bowls fell to the ground, Taoist Master Zhang of Wudang said in a deep voice, "If it is beneficial to the country, life and death are of paramount importance. Why should we avoid it because of misfortune or fortune? (Note) I wish us immediate success."
The Tiger King brandished the sledgehammer in his hand and chuckled, "Don't worry, Taoist priest. Even if we perish together, I won't let the court's lackeys ruin General Qiu Shan's plans."
The old beggar raised his head and took a sip from the empty wine pot. He touched the dog-beating stick and shook his head, saying, "I haven't lived enough, and I haven't tasted enough of wine and meat. Black King, don't look down on those drunkards in the court too much. I'm still waiting to go to your mountain after the battle to beg for free food and drink."
The Tiger Mountain King naively corrected him, "You old beggar, I'm the Tiger King, not the Black King! I think you're the weakest among these people. Don't die. When the time comes, come to my White Tiger Mountain and I'll take care of you in your old age."
The female warrior holding the red tasseled spear turned around first and said, "Take care, everyone. I hope to see you again someday!"
The Holy Maiden of the Five Immortals Sect, with a green snake coiled on her shoulder, had a cold look in her eyes. After nodding to the crowd, she used her lightness skills to move away surrounded by purple butterflies.
Immediately afterwards, Bao the Butcher and Qin Zhan also left one by one after clasping their fists.
The Wudang Taoist priest who had gathered everyone here watched them leave. The Shaolin abbot clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, Taoist Zhang, I will go first."
"Take care, Master."
Only Taoist Priest Zhang of Wudang was left there. Taoist Priest Zhang held his long sword, made a sword flower, and whispered to the empty surroundings:
"I am being too talkative. Master, will you really not change your opponent with me?" The Demon Cult's master's skills are mainly based on trickery, but his opponent is the former guardian of the Demon Cult. He must be familiar with his methods, so it is inevitable that he will lose the advantage.
"You're such a talker, why don't you just shut up?" The demonic leader, who was supposed to leave first, appeared in everyone's eyes. His whereabouts were unpredictable and his temperament was volatile. A hoarse and perverse voice came from behind the black fog:
"This Sect Leader has come here only to clean up the mess and bring back the head of the apostate Zuo Fa Wang. If I give it to you in exchange, does that mean you are planning to join our Holy Sect?"
The traitor understood him, and vice versa. Instead of worrying about him, Niu Bizi should worry about himself.
Before Taoist Zhang could speak, the Demon Cult leader sneered again, and the sound faded away, finally reaching Taoist Zhang's ears:
"Don't die, Taoist priest. Otherwise, without you, the face of the righteous path, the martial arts world will be dominated by the devil path. With only one voice, it will be a bit boring."
"Take care!" Taoist Zhang said two words in a deep voice towards the direction where the voice was fading away.
Good and evil cannot coexist, but the leader of the Demon Cult is helping everyone in the world. Regardless of the past or the future, at this moment they are friends fighting side by side. For people in the martial arts world, this is enough.
He slowly closed his eyes, opened them again, and stepped out. He would win, and then return here to wait for his friends who had traveled far away to return.
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Annotations on Bai Juyi and Lin Zexu.
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