Chapter 95
After marching for one day, they arrived at the border of Chongzhou.
Fan Changyu is going to join the army, so he can't keep Changning with him forever.
In order to find Changning, she helped the government destroy many thieves' dens that kidnapped young children and women in Xiangzhou, and received a very generous reward. She then rented a small courtyard in a nearby town, placed Changning there, and found a simple peasant woman who could take care of children. She paid her to take care of Changning's food and daily life.
To be on the safe side, she left Xie Qi behind and only took Xie Wu with her to the army.
This is the case for the soldiers who have been stationed outside the Great Wall all year round. Most of them have settled down in border towns and can go home to reunite with their families when they are not guarding the border.
After everything was arranged, Fan Changyu was introduced by Master Tao and officially incorporated into the Jizhou Army. She had previously killed three scouts, which was a real military achievement in the Jizhou Army. Later, she killed the rebel general Shi Hu on the front line, so it was not difficult for her to get a title.
But on the way to the military camp, Master Tao suddenly asked her, "Girl, do you want a bunch of people you can use but who are not close to you, or do you want to bring out a few useful people yourself?"
Fan Changyu had seen fighting on the battlefield. If it wasn't for someone close to him, who would risk their life to protect him?
The generals in the army were also promoted from the ranks of sergeant and squad leader. It is precisely because they have the capital to convince the soldiers under them and the friendship of life and death that the soldiers will follow them and charge forward on the battlefield.
Even when there was a change in military power, the soldiers below would prefer to unite with the generals they followed rather than obey the imperial power that was beyond their reach.
Fan Changyu was not smart, but she was not stupid either. She quickly thought about the pros and cons and said, "When I go to the battlefield, I need someone to back me up."
The implication is to choose the latter.
Master Tao stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "That's exactly what I mean. You've just arrived in the army and are not familiar with everything in the army. If you are given a high-ranking military position without anyone to use, it will only be an empty title that will make people jealous. It's better to keep a low profile and take one step at a time, and make steady progress."
With Master Tao's words, Fan Changyu felt that if she joined the army, at best she could start as a sergeant.
The military system of the Dayin Dynasty was that five people formed a squad, ten people formed a platoon, five platoons formed a team, ten platoons formed a division, and five divisions formed a battalion. The lower limit of the number of people in a battalion was 500, but there was no fixed upper limit. ①
Only when the forces of several battalions are combined can it be called an army.
There are many twists and turns in the military positions. Some have both rank and real power, some have rank but no real power, and some have no rank but real power.
For example, a military chief is in charge of a hundred men, also known as a centurion. If we really calculate according to official rank, he is of no rank, but the actual power he holds is indeed considerable.
On the battlefield, a hundred people can do a lot, so since ancient times, most of the famous generals were able to achieve great military exploits when they were just centurions.
Fan Changyu went to the army under Tang Peiyi. After Xiu Da defeated the rebels outside Lucheng, the 20,000 newly recruited soldiers under Tang Peiyi suffered nearly 3,000 casualties after the rebels' sudden attack on a rainy night. He then sent another 1,000 to Tao Taifu to deliver supplies to the First Line Strait, and he took the remaining troops to besiege Chongzhou.
The one thousand men led by Tao Taifu joined the reinforcements from Yanzhou at the Front Line Gorge. Led by veteran soldiers from Yanzhou, they fought against the rebels many times. This group of new recruits grew up quickly, and now the hundreds of people who have returned alive have all become veterans on the battlefield.
Tang Peiyi wanted to break up these people, re-integrate them into the new recruits, and let them lead the new recruits.
After he besieged Lucheng, he fought against Prince Changxin's army once, but suffered heavy losses. He did not dare to relax until He Jingyuan arrived with reinforcements from Jizhou.
The remaining tens of thousands of recruits could not be kept in vain, so he thought that now that he had the main force in Jizhou to support him, he should train the new recruits as soon as possible.
When Master Tao went to find him and recommended Fan Changyu to join the army, Tang Peiyi agreed without hesitation.
If Fan Changyu had not killed the three scouts, Lucheng would have been lost and he would have been killed.
He said: "That girl was able to kill Shi Hu. Such bravery is rare among real men. It is a blessing for Tang to have such a talented general under his command!"
But Master Tao said, "If jade is not polished, it will not become a useful object. Let her polish it first."
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After Fan Changyu was incorporated into the army, she found out that she did not start as a private, nor as a sergeant. She was directly appointed as the team leader, in charge of 49 people. Xie Wu was surprisingly assigned to her team.
The soldiers below discovered that their team leader was a pretty girl, and they all started whispering to each other while standing in the team.
"Why are there women in the army?"
Fan Changyu's immediate superior, Captain Guo, was a bearded man who was tall and built like an iron tower. The generals among the new recruits were all transferred from the regular army of Jizhou.
When he found out that one of his troops was a woman, he was so angry that his nose almost got crooked. He cursed in front of his soldiers: "I don't know which general's daughter has come to the army to seek fame again. Why don't I just make her a lieutenant and let the family generals protect her inside and outside, and throw her to my subordinates. If she gets hurt, my life will be in vain."
His words were meant to intimidate Fan Changyu. If he was publicly humiliated, those with thin skin would probably not be able to stay any longer.
This was the situation Captain Guo was most happy to see. After all, let alone the daughter of a general, even if she was the son of a high-ranking official who was sent here to gain experience without knowing the hardships of the military, they would not be willing to take her over.
You can't hit or scold him, and if you go to the battlefield you have to protect this giant Buddha with your life.
They will suffer the consequences if they get hurt, not to mention that swords and knives are merciless on the battlefield and deaths are common.
Once someone does something wrong, the higher-ups will investigate and it will be too much for everyone in the entire team to chop off their heads.
Therefore, for those noble young men who were sent to the army for training, the generals above had an unspoken rule: they would be given an empty title, set up a military tent, and would send their family generals to protect the gold nugget on weekdays.
Don't seek to be meritorious, but seek to avoid mistakes.
After the other party has finished his "training", and has performed a few painless military exploits, and has sent the person back safely, the matter will be considered complete.
Most of the daughters of generals who came to the army for training were good at fighting and had a lot of passion in their hearts, but they were too naive. Killing a few people could not be compared with the hell on the battlefield.
And these daughters of generals are often the apple of the general's eye. No one dares to let them make any mistakes on the battlefield. Many times, the number of enemies they kill is not as many as the number of soldiers who die on the battlefield to protect them.
Therefore, when the real war comes, the generals above will hardly allow the daughters of generals who come here for training to participate in the war.
Not to mention those idiot young masters.
The descendants of generals who can truly gain the respect of the lower-level soldiers are those who have risen step by step from the bottom through military achievements.
The army would not recruit female soldiers, so Captain Guo naturally thought that Fan Changyu joined the army from behind. He was also a martial artist and could tell from Fan Changyu's deep breathing that he was a martial artist. He guessed that Fan Changyu wanted to learn from the descendants of generals who started from the bottom, which made him even more angry.
He didn't care whether others had Ling Yunzhi or not, but if this Ling Yunzhi might cause him and his brothers to lose their lives in vain on the battlefield, he would be very disgusted.
Fan Changyu was unaware of these hidden facts and was confronted by Captain Guo on the spot, but he did not look embarrassed and continued to stand there with confidence.
She had no reason to be angry because others had misunderstood her.
Xie Wu spoke for her, saying, "Captain Fan came from the battlefield of the First Front. She killed Shi Hu and was able to join the army because of her real military achievements."
As soon as these words were spoken, there was more discussion in the team.
They had heard of Shi Hu's ferocious reputation since they joined the army. They heard that he was a monster who liked to eat raw meat and drink human blood, and that the pair of nails in his hands had killed at least 800 people.
Could this girl, who was wearing a military uniform from Jizhou and looked even a little thin among the men, kill Shi Hu?
Captain Guo looked at Fan Changyu again as if he was judging whether she had the courage to kill Shi Hu.
Someone in the crowd had seen Fan Changyu carrying rocks and earth when the dam was being built, and he immediately shouted, "I know Captain Fan. When she was building the dam upstream of Zhuzhou, she carried over 300 kilograms of rocks down the mountain without even taking a breath!"
With the exact value, the soldiers looked at Fan Changyu with even more admiration.
Xie Wu wanted to talk about the incident of Fan Changyu hunting a bear, but since he had not seen it with his own eyes, it might sound like bragging to others. Seeing that everyone was obviously respectful to Fan Changyu, Xie Wu swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
Captain Guo asked Fan Changyu, "What weapons are you good at?"
Fan Changyu thought for a moment and said, "A pig-killing knife."
A soldier in the ranks couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Captain Guo looked a little unhappy and shouted, "You went to the battlefield to kill the enemy with a pig-killing knife?"
Fan Changyu nodded honestly.
There was another burst of muffled laughter in the crowd.
Captain Guo was completely frustrated and didn't think she could really kill Shi Hu. He thought that it was probably the people behind her who gave her such a military achievement in order to build momentum for her. After all, such things were not uncommon.
He didn't want to give Fan Changyu any face, and shouted: "Okay, today I will learn how to kill pigs with your knife!"
He clenched his fist like a sandbag and rammed it hard, shouting at Fan Changyu with all his might, "Come on!"
The soldiers under them had not expected that on the first day of reorganization there would be such excitement and they cheered loudly.
The movement here attracted the generals on the platform to look over.
Tang Peiyi asked: "What's going on over there?"
The formation where Fan Changyu was located was at the very end of the parade ground. Looking down from the high platform, one could only see a mass of dark figures standing in small squares, and could not see what was happening behind them at all.
A guard immediately replied, "I will go and take a look."
As soon as he left, another guard came up to report: "General, Master Li is here to visit!"
Tang Peiyi asked: "Which Mr. Li?"
The guard wiped his sweat and replied, "Grandson of Li Taifu, Li Huaian!"
Tang Peiyi immediately looked at Grand Tutor Tao. Grand Tutor Li took up that position two years after Grand Tutor Tao resigned. Although he was the leader of the Qingliu, half of the people in the court and the country were his disciples, and he seemed to want to compete with Wei Yan.
He said, "After Marquis Wu'an went to Kangcheng to pay the remnants of the rebels, the imperial court sent military rations by water. Li Huaian also served as the military supervisor. He came here to check the amount of rations and fodder, and he should have come to find Master He. He came to me this time, most likely for the Grand Tutor. Will the Grand Tutor see him?"
Master Tao just smiled and said, "Now that this young man knows I'm here, he can avoid me today, but he can't avoid me tomorrow. Come and see me. I want to see what kind of children the old man of the Li family has raised."
Tang Peiyi said to the guard, "Please bring the person over."
But in a moment, Li Huaian, dressed in a sky-blue Confucian robe, was brought over by his personal guards.
As a scholar, his appearance was a little plainer than Gongsun Yin's, but like a cup of clear tea, the more you taste it, the more flavorful it becomes. Coupled with his unique pure and gentle temperament, people feel that he is like the most elegant student in front of a saint.
He immediately spotted the pale-haired Master Tao, bowed respectfully, and said in a gentle voice, "Meet the Master."
His eyes glanced at Tang Peiyi standing beside him and he said, "Meet the general."
Tao Taifu was much more senior than Tang Peiyi in terms of qualifications and official positions, so he was the one who spoke to Li Huaian. He smiled at the young man in front of him and said, "You look like your grandfather when he was young. At first glance, I thought it was him. You have gone back in time over the years."
I don't know whether this was a joke or had a hidden meaning.
Li Huaian only smiled and said, "Grandfather has not been as strong as before these years, and he is not as strong as the master."
Master Tao stroked his beard and smiled, "I am an old man who loves to have fun. I have not seen enough of the beautiful mountains and rivers in this world. I have nothing to worry about and feel free. I am more carefree than your grandfather."
Li Huai'an said: "It was the Grand Tutor who retired at the right time. My grandfather always said that if he could learn the knowledge of the Grand Tutor, he would be satisfied in his life."
Master Tao's face was still smiling, with deep wrinkles on it. He half-jokingly said, "The older the old man gets, the less he knows how to be content. His knowledge has trained half of the court and the public, isn't that enough?"
Li Huaian smiled along, his tone still gentle: "Half of the officials in the court and the country are not as good as the pillars of the country like Wu'an Hou."
Tang Peiyi was a rough man, but he was definitely not a fool to have reached this position. The more he listened to the two people's words, the weirder they sounded to him. He was thinking about whether to say something to temporarily change the subject, when the bodyguard he had sent out earlier came running back panting.
The guard clasped his fists and said, "General, over there is a 100-household female team fighting!"
Li Huaian was a little surprised and asked, "General Tang has women serving in the army?"
Fan Changyu was recommended by Tao Taifu to join the army. Tang Peiyi was wondering whether to keep this a secret for the time being when he heard loud cheers coming from the end of the army formation.
Li Huaian glanced over there, and seemed to be somewhat interested: "Can I watch the military competition?"
There was no rule that prohibited watching martial arts competitions, and Tang Peiyi couldn't make one up, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "Yes."
-
When the resounding cheers rang out, it was Fan Changyu who threw Captain Guo out with an over-the-shoulder throw.
Captain Guo went into battle with her unarmed, but she couldn't bully him, after all, the last person who let her use only one hand and fight with the boning knife was Xie Zheng.
After the fall, Captain Guo held his waist tightly and grimaced as he climbed up. He looked at Fan Changyu who was standing not far away and asked, "I am good at using a broadsword, but not good at boxing. Do you dare to fight me with a weapon again?"
Fan Changyu readily agreed: "Okay."
Soon someone brought up the weapons rack.
Captain Guo picked up a Yandao. Fan Changyu was best at using a long-handled sword. She felt that if Captain Guo lost too badly in front of so many people, he would definitely lose face.
After much thought, I picked two big hammers for myself.
The main reason was that the handle of the iron hammer was short, and unlike a sword, it would leave a cut on the body if it was pulled. As long as she controlled her strength, she could survive a few more moves from Captain Guo.
Little did people know that her frame was smaller than that of a man, so she looked a little thin. She had a gentle and harmless expression, and she was holding two large iron hammers weighing dozens of pounds in her hands. The picture was very weird no matter how you looked at it.
Captain Guo wielded a broadsword with great skill. When he shouted and chopped at Fan Changyu, Fan Changyu did not take the attack but just kept dodging.
When Captain Guo saw her looking at the two big iron hammers and still being so agile, he was a little nervous. Seeing that she didn't take the attack, he scolded her: "Why are you hiding? Take my sword!"
Fan Changyu really didn't dodge. When the knife came down towards her face, the soldiers watching outside the field gasped in fear.
Although Xie Wu was confident in Fan Changyu's martial arts, he did not dare to relax at any time. He kept a close eye on every move of the two men and would take action if Fan Changyu was in danger.
Captain Guo found that his sword was outdated and Fan Changyu did not dodge or evade, nor did she make any attempt to block him. He broke out in a cold sweat on his back. Regardless of whether Fan Changyu was the general's daughter or not, there must be someone behind her for her to join the army.
If I accidentally killed her here, my life would be over.
There was a loud clang, which made the eardrums hurt.
The knife that was about to chop towards Fan Changyu's face was blocked by her using two large iron hammers, thus stopping the knife's momentum.
Captain Guo was holding the hilt of the sword, and he could clearly feel the palm of his hand shaking violently, and it was numb and painful. He could hardly hold the handle, and large beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
Those who were closer saw clearly that Fan Changyu had clamped the blade with two iron hammers, preventing Captain Guo from chopping down with his sword. Those who were standing further back obviously did not think that such a force could be stopped by a pair of iron hammers, and they discussed it in a low voice.
"Captain Guo, don't you think that you're letting her go just because she's pretty?"
"If I can lose face and win the heart of a beautiful woman, I will be happy to do it!"
However, the next moment, Fan Changyu released the iron hammers that were tightly colliding with each other.
The blade of Captain Guo's sword, which was trapped in the middle, suddenly fell to the ground with a clanging sound like broken ice.
There was a sudden silence inside and outside the stadium.
The soldier who had previously suspected Captain Guo of letting the enemy win also swallowed hard.
With a single strike in mid-air, the sword that was about to chop down on him was shattered. How much strength did that take?
There was applause from outside the training ground, which was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Fan Changyu looked to the side and saw that Tao Taifu, Tang Peiyi and other generals had come over, including Li Huaian.
Tang Peiyi was the commander, and since this was a military exercise, he was the one who spoke. He praised, "This is a wonderful performance. Enjoy it!"
The soldiers all cheered for Fan Changyu. Fan Changyu had seen others salute when he was in the army before, so he followed suit and clasped his fists, saying, "Thank you, General!"
Li Huaian seemed quite surprised to see that it was her: "I was wondering which female general under General Tang was so brave, it turned out to be Miss Fan."
Fan Changyu didn't know why he came to Chongzhou. He thought that he was an official and he should greet him, so he clasped his fists and called out, "Master Li."
Not only Master Tao, but even Tang Peiyi was a little confused and asked, "Do you two know each other?"
Li Huaian smiled gently and said, "Miss Fan once saved my life."
Fan Changyu said hurriedly: "It's just a simple task."
Xie Wu was also among the one hundred personal cavalrymen that Xie Zheng brought back to Qingping County that day, so he naturally remembered that Fan Changyu protected Li Huaian. Seeing Li Huaian's subtle attitude towards Fan Changyu, he suddenly frowned.
Li Huaian was not surprised at Fan Changyu's politeness to her. After all, ever since she knew her identity and asked him to help look up the files on the cause of death of her parents, she had always politely called him "sir".
He said, "This trip is really a coincidence. You went to Chongzhou alone that day, saying that you were going to look for your sister, and left a lady named Zhao at the government office in Jizhou. When I set out for Chongzhou, the lady was worried about Miss Fan, so she asked me to bring her to Chongzhou to look for Miss Fan."
Fan Changyu was half confused and half surprised: "Aunt Zhao?"
Li Huaian smiled and nodded: "She is right where I am now."
The army has just reorganized its military today and there is no need for training yet, so you can take a leave in the afternoon.
After the formation was completed, Fan Changyu asked the army for half a day's leave, intending to take Aunt Zhao back to the yard he rented.
Xie Wu naturally took leave and went with her.
When the two of them got on the Li family's carriage, Li Huaian looked at Xie Wu with a warm smile on his face, and said without any malice: "I wonder who this little brother is?"
Fan Changyu now has to start from the bottom of the military camp. Women in the military are already controversial. After exposing her relationship with Xie Zheng, it will be even more disadvantageous to her. Although Xie Wu wants to let this smiling tiger-like guy in front of him know the meaning, he also knows that he can't cause trouble for Fan Changyu, so he said stiffly: "I am the personal follower of my captain!"
Li Huaian chuckled after hearing this answer, still sounding gentle and without any malice. He said to Fan Changyu, "Congratulations to Miss Fan. With her martial arts skills, she will surely achieve great things in the army in the future."
Fan Changyu said: "I just hope that the world will be peaceful."
When Aunt Zhao was called, she saw Fan Changyu in military uniform and learned that she had also joined the army. She hugged her and cried for a long time.
Xie Wu followed the whole time. Wherever Li Huaian was, he was there. Li Huaian noticed the young man's inexplicable hostility towards him, but he still just smiled at him very politely.
Fan Changyu took Aunt Zhao back to the small courtyard she rented. As it was quite a journey and the surrounding towns were deserted due to the war, they could not borrow a carriage, so Li Huaian suggested that the coachman give them a ride.
On the way back, Xie Wu sat outside with the driver, while Fan Changyu and Aunt Zhao sat in the car and talked. They talked about what had happened since they separated.
Xie Wu listened with his ears tilted up the whole time, afraid of missing a word about the man surnamed Li.
When they arrived at the courtyard, Changning saw Aunt Zhao, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, and she threw herself into Aunt Zhao's arms and burst into tears.
Aunt Zhao was still frightened when she thought about Changning's disappearance, and couldn't help crying too.
Fan Changyu was busy comforting the old man and the child, while Xie Wu gave Xie Qi a look. While the two of them were in the kitchen cooking, he quickly told Xie Qi about his encounter with Li Huaian today and said, "Write a letter tonight and have Hai Dongqing deliver it to the Marquis."
He vigorously mixed the dough in the bowl and said angrily, "That pretty boy is coveting my wife!"
The author has something to say:
Xie Wu: I hope that Lord Hou can give me a higher year-end bonus this year!
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It's late, but still fat? Give 100 red envelopes to the babies~
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