Gao Yanei's face flushed and he shouted, "I am the Du Yu Hou, I have the right to know."
"Du Yuhou is nothing! I'm the commander-in-chief of the First Army, the military leader. As long as the court doesn't remove me from office, I'll be the one to run the First Army... Gao Chengzong, I'm warning you, if you dare to speak to me in front of the soldiers again, I'll put you in solitary confinement. Don't be so unaware."
"You...!" Gao Yanei's chest heaved like a bellows.
At last, Gao Chengzong could only murmur, "An old donkey pulling a millstone."
Zhang Shixun saw that both of them looked unhappy and felt that he needed to explain to them, so he said to the messenger: "Pass on my military order, the entire army will rest on the spot."
The team stopped.
"Lao He, Lao Gao, the two of you, follow me." Zhang Shixun led them a distance away from the group, slammed his Fang Tian Hua Ji into the ground, and said to them with a smile, "I know you must be very unhappy with me for sending you two to the baggage camp."
He Ji and Gao Yanei had cold faces and didn't say a word.
"I've always treated you two as brothers... Lao Gao, you don't have to pout. Privately, I really do treat you two as brothers, but this is limited to private matters. Once you're in the army, you have to put your personal friendship aside."
Zhang Shixun tried to slow down his tone and said, "Since we are brothers, some things should be made clear. If you keep them in your heart for too long, it will become alienated from each other."
He Ji nodded and said, "Brother Zhang, I also treat you as a brother."
Gao Yanei said in a gloomy tone: "I treat some people as brothers, but when they become officials, they no longer treat me as a brother, huh!"
Zhang Shixun smiled and continued, "My background is a bit complicated. I have some tricks that ordinary people don't have. You call them supernatural powers, such as possessing a heavenly book and being able to summon so-called heavenly thunder, etc."
He Ji said: "You are a Heavenly Master, it is normal for you to have these magical powers."
"That's the problem. Ordinary people would find those supernatural powers strange and envious, but in the eyes of the emperor and the court officials, these supernatural powers become unpredictable and uncontrollable forces. Therefore, this makes them restless and unable to sleep or eat. They may have wondered countless times, what would happen if Zhang Shixun used these supernatural powers on them?"
He Ji asked, "Will you apply the divine power to the officials?"
This question was very hurtful, as it was equivalent to asking him whether he would rebel.
"Of course I won't use it on the emperor, even if he is a tyrant."
He Ji was startled and hurriedly stopped him: "Shi Xun, be careful with your words!"
"Haha! This is something we brothers talk about privately. I wouldn't say such outrageous things in other situations... Oh, right! You two won't tell the government about this, will you?"
"No!" He Ji and the other man said in unison.
They really don't dare.
Calling the current emperor a tyrant is not a capital crime, but officials are very narrow-minded these days. If you make him jealous, your career will be over.
Zhang Shixun had the title of Heavenly Master, so the government did not dare to do anything to him, but the same could not be said for others.
"Since I treat you as brothers, I will be honest with you today." Zhang Shixun said here, and his tone became serious.
He Ji saw that he was serious and said, "Brother, please tell us what you have to say. We are all ears."
Gao Yanei also became serious for a rare moment, "Brother, just say it. Brothers will never go out and say anything nonsense."
Zhang Shixun said frankly, "I have traveled thousands of miles back to the Song Dynasty, not to enjoy wealth and glory, nor for my own selfish desires."
"I've heard you say these words before." Gao Yanei couldn't help but remind him.
Zhang Shixun pointed north and said slowly, "The Jin soldiers have conquered the Liao Kingdom, and their ambitions are boundlessly expanding. Their next target will be our Great Song."
Gao Yanei suddenly jumped up and shouted, "Don't scare us. The Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty have a maritime alliance."
"In the eyes of the barbarians of the Jin Kingdom, those treaties are nothing more than a piece of waste paper. They can tear it up at any time if they need to."
He Ji also said, "Shixun, aren't you exaggerating?"
Zhang Shixun was too lazy to explain further, and instead said seriously, "The seventh year of Xuanhe is approaching. By the end of that year, the Jin army will launch a massive attack on the Song Dynasty... Lao He, Lao Gao, I'm really not trying to scare you. Saying this to you two today would be like revealing a secret."
He Ji and Gao Yanei looked at each other.
They couldn't help but believe that such a secret had been revealed.
If someone else said it, they would not believe it even if they were beaten to death. But it was a different story when it came from Zhang Shixun.
He is a heavenly master.
"The current emperor resigned before the Jin army even reached the capital. He passed the throne to the crown prince and fled to Jiangnan... You two, stop talking, let me finish... The new emperor ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Jing Kang. He was emperor for just over a year before Bianjing fell, and he, the retired emperor, and the entire royal family were captured by the Jin people."
He Ji and Gao Yanei turned pale when they heard the ending.
"Okay, I've said everything I can say. Believe it or not, it's up to you."
After Zhang Shixun finished speaking, he walked towards the team holding his Fang Tian Hua Ji, leaving He Ji and Gao Yanei disheveled in the cold wind.
Since the First Army arrived in Weishi, it has maintained strict discipline and refrained from harassing the people, leaving a good impression. They held an armed parade around the Weishi county seat, attracting many onlookers.
The First Army was a strictly organized imperial guard, and not only the common people but even the government officials had never seen one.
All the people knew that this imperial army was here to wipe out King Yang.
Diao Wu hanging high in the middle of the team can prove this.
The people watching from afar were not just watching the excitement, they were also talking about Zhang Shixun.
"Do you know? The leader of the army is called Zhang Shixun, and I heard he is a Heavenly Master."
"Tsk! Who doesn't know the name of Zhang Tianshi? We already knew it."
"I heard he can summon thunder from the sky, but I don't know if it's true or not."
"Of course it's true. If he wants someone dead, he only needs to move his fingers and thunder will strike that person to death."
An old man twirled his beard and said, "I heard that he carries a heavenly book with him. Whenever he encounters something he doesn't understand, he opens the book and everything about the next few days becomes clear."
"Don't forget, he can also move the fairyland to the mortal world. On the Lantern Festival, he displayed his magical powers and moved the fairyland to the air in front of Xuande Tower. He also brought Li Shishi and the others into the fairyland... Tsk tsk! Li Shishi is as beautiful as a fairy."
…
The people watching the excitement below the city were talking about Zhang Shixun, and people on the top of the city were also talking about it.
"County Magistrate Niu, what do you think of the First Army?"
The man who asked the question was about forty years old, with a fair face and no beard, and a pair of eye bubbles. He tucked his hands into the sleeves of his cotton robe and watched the marching team outside the city with great interest.
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