The King of Pingnan holds a golden spear in his hand, which he can use to strike down the tyrants above and the wicked below, and he can also see the king without kneeling. This was a gift from the late emperor to commend his outstanding achievements.
After entering the palace, he slammed the golden spear to the ground, glared at Minister Deng and said, "Old wretch, I am only one year older than you. If you don't agree, come on, let's fight for three hundred rounds outside the palace. If you win, I will never fight you. Otherwise, shut up!"
After saying this, he lifted the collar of his robe. Although the late emperor had granted him the privilege of not kneeling when meeting the emperor, he did not intend to use this privilege in order to fight for the opportunity to go to the battlefield.
Unexpectedly, Minister Deng, who had already stood up, knelt even faster than him, this time on both knees. "Your Majesty! Although the Prince of Pingnan is brave, he is old. Unlike an old minister like me, he has been recuperating for the past few years. His two sons are in their prime. I hope Your Majesty will grant my request and allow me to lead the troops to the border to resist the enemy. Thank you for your grace!"
"Hmph! You old bastard, how shameless! His Majesty hasn't even approved your request yet, yet you're already thanking him. Are you the only one who has a son that I don't have? I have three sons and three sons-in-law! One is a scholar, two are military. Furthermore, my two daughters and my concubine, Concubine Li, are all heroines who are as brave as any man. How can they be compared to you, an old bastard?"
The voice of Prince Pingnan was like a loud bell, making the ears of the ministers in the hall buzz. Minister Deng was no weakling either. Most of the ministers of war in the previous dynasties were civil officials, but he was not a civil servant, but a great marshal who had fought his way out of thousands of troops.
Before being imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison by the late emperor, Minister Deng fought in many battles and made great achievements in expanding the territory of the Great Yan Dynasty. The two old men started arguing with each other in the hall, and their faces turned red.
"Well, the loyalty of the two old ministers is commendable. May God bless our great banquet. With two loyal and brave generals like these old ministers, why should we fear foreign invasion?"
As soon as Emperor Yongkang finished speaking, the civil and military officials in the hall nodded in unison, and the whole hall was filled with flattery.
Prince Pingnan and Minister Deng glared at each other, neither willing to be outdone. Both of them were talented and handsome. Emperor Yongkang was very pleased but also felt it was difficult. At this time, the old tutor spoke with a smile.
The Grand Tutor said, "Your Majesty, in my opinion, we can appoint a Marshal of the First Route and a Marshal of the Second Route. Who will be the Marshal of the First Route and who will be the Marshal of the Second Route can be decided by Heaven's will. This way, there will be no need for you to fight and damage your relationship. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Good, it's really great!" Emperor Yongkang made the final decision and drew lots. Whoever he drew would be the winner. Prince Pingnan and Minister Deng had no objection to this, and they both stopped arguing.
The Prince of Pingnan won the lottery and was chosen as the Grand Marshal of the First Army of the World, leading 200,000 elite soldiers. He was ready to set out as soon as he received news from the front.
From then on, Prince Pingnan trained his troops in the parade ground every day. The Wuyi Camp led by Ma Fuquan was also among the 200,000 troops. He had originally planned to arrange Ma Xiaomai's wedding upon returning to Beijing, but it was postponed because of the war.
Aunt Li and Duan Xinping also started training with the palace soldiers of Prince Pingnan. Duan Yu took the opportunity to pester Aunt Li every day, and then went to pester Princess Pingnan. After a lot of pampering, Princess Pingnan raised the white flag. After discussing with Prince Pingnan, she asked him to temporarily stop studying and train with the palace soldiers so that he could serve the court when the war broke out in the future.
When Dabao knew that Duan Yu didn't have to study for the time being and would be training with the palace soldiers, he thought that he had also practiced martial arts for several years. In addition, the mood in the capital was currently very excited. People in the streets and alleys were shouting that they wanted to give the invaders a head-on blow. Many merchants voluntarily donated money and food to support the court in fighting foreign enemies. The students in the academy were also discussing this matter all day long.
A strong youth means a strong country. This is what Jian Ning often said when teaching Dabao and others martial arts. After Dabao asked Dajun what he thought, the two of them went to find Ma Fuquan, wanting to join his Wuyi Camp as a recruit.
Jian Ning and Ding Youtian had only Dabao as their only son, and Huo Jincheng had only Dajun as his adopted son. Ma Fuquan did not dare to make a decision on his own. He sent a message to Jian Ning, asking her if she agreed, and asked Dabao to write a letter back to ask his parents for their opinion.
When the system prompt sounded, Jian Ning, Ding Youtian, Tong Bajin and others had just arrived at the East City Gate. A scout had reported two quarters of an hour ago that the Yue Kingdom had been sending reinforcements to Jishui County intermittently in recent days. Ding Youtian had ordered someone to report to Dingzihao as soon as possible. Jian Ning was also about to tell Ma Fuquan that she could pass on the news to the capital immediately if there was any movement, but she still had to go through the normal channels.
Ma Fuquan saw the message from Jian Ning and, figuring the Dingzihao Escort Agency's logistics would only be a few days late, didn't rush to inform Huo Jincheng. The Yanchao army was well-equipped with soldiers and food, ready to march at any moment. He replied to Jian Ning and asked her what her attitude was towards Dabao.
Jian Ning: [I'll ask his father what he means.]
Ma Fuquan: [Of course. That guy actually used the saying "a strong youth makes a strong country" to convince me. Oh, and there's Dajun, too. He's been training with Old Huo for over half a year.]
On the city wall, Shouzheng was using a telescope to observe Jishui County within the Yue Kingdom. Jian Ning and Ding Youtian went up to the city wall. She pulled Ding Youtian and motioned Tong Bajin and the others to go over first. Then she told Ding Youtian that Dabao and Dajun wanted to go to Wuyi Camp and asked him what he thought.
"If he wants to go, let him go. He's not young anymore. Ma Xiaomai also served in the military at his age. He'll have plenty of time to study later. Right now, it's right for everyone to unite and prepare for war. If the country is about to collapse, then studying is useless. Let him go!"
Ma Fuquan called Dabao over and said, "You are like this. I can agree that you can go to the military camp for training first, but you have to write to your parents immediately. If they don't agree, you can go back to the academy to study. Is that okay?"
"My mother will agree, and she will convince my father. I have only written half of the letter, and I will continue writing."
Huo Jincheng initially disagreed with Dajun going, thinking it was nonsense. Going into battle and killing the enemy was the job of the soldiers, so what did a half-grown kid have to do with it?
Later, he learned that Ma Fuquan agreed to let Dabao practice first, and would formally accept him as long as his parents wrote to him and said they did not object. So he changed his mind and agreed to let Dajun and Dabao practice together first.
After Ma Fuquan reported the news to Jian Ning, Jian Ning suddenly remembered what Tian had told her about the relationship between Da Jun and Da Niu. Because Da Niu was still young, Jian Ning had not asked her last time, thinking that the two children might just have a simple friendship, and asking would make it awkward for the children to get along with each other in the future.
However, if Huo Jincheng really adopted Dajun because of Ah Man, and was eventually abducted by Da Niu, this would be a troublesome matter. She originally wanted to ask Ma Fuquan to find time to sound out Huo Jincheng, but then she thought that she had to ask Huo Jincheng in person to see what he meant.
Ten days later, the letter from Dingzihao was delivered to the capital. On that day, Huo Jincheng and the Minister of War rode Qiu Ge and secretly mobilized troops in Dazhou County and Baiya County. Then the two of them rode Qiu Ge to Xing'an County.
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