199, Letter from the Border
199, Letter from the Border
Just after the end of February, an express letter from the border crossing 800 miles away was delivered to Kyoto Prefecture.
On that day, the students in the Imperial Academy also learned the news. All the students in the Imperial Academy gathered in groups of three or five, and everyone was talking about this matter.
"Have you heard? This morning, an urgent letter from the border crossing 800 miles was delivered to the palace."
"Of course we didn't hear about it. As soon as the soldiers sent from the border entered the city, many people saw it."
"How dare the Hu people invade Great Yan? They are simply overestimating their own capabilities!"
"The Hu people have repeatedly invaded our Great Yan, but were always beaten back to the border by our soldiers. Yet, every few years they come back seeking death without knowing whether to live or die."
"I heard that the snowstorm in the north this year was very severe. A large number of cattle and sheep froze to death among the Hu people, and many Hu people also died."
"That's what they deserve. They've done so many bad things, this is retribution!"
“…”
Walking along the corridor, he heard many people talking about letters from the border and the war. However, when he heard these students' speeches, Lu Mingfei couldn't help but shake his head inwardly. He didn't join in the discussion and walked past without stopping.
Zhang Lingxuan followed behind with Ye Zhuoran. Seeing that Lu Mingfei and their senior brother did not stop, the two of them followed and left together.
The four of them didn't speak during the whole journey, and the atmosphere was not as relaxed as before.
When Lu Mingfei first heard the news, he didn't feel any surprise. He just felt that it was exactly as he expected, and his heart was very heavy.
After returning to their courtyard, Ye Zhuoran looked at this classmate and then at that good friend. It was the first time he saw his friends looking like this.
"What's wrong with you? They are just a few barbarians. How can we be afraid of them?" Like most people, Ye Zhuoran did not take it seriously when he heard that the barbarians were attacking. He did not take the barbarians seriously at all.
The truth is, Dayan and the Hu people had fought countless battles over the years, with Dayan always winning. This led many people to develop a contemptuous attitude towards the Hu people, and this contempt spread from top to bottom, even the emperor in the imperial city and the officials in Kyoto Prefecture did not take the Hu people seriously.
"The Hu people come to pick a fight with us every now and then. This time they will definitely be driven away by our soldiers."
Lu Mingfei glanced at Ye Zhuoran, then at Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming, and expressed his concern: "You must have heard the saying that even rabbits will bite when they are provoked."
"By the same token, a hungry wolf cornered in a corner will inevitably bite a piece of meat off a sheep."
"Oh, Mingfei, what's wrong with you? Why do you only enhance the prestige of others and destroy your own ambition? The soldiers of our Dayan are not sheep. The soldiers of our Dayan are a group of tigers and wolves. They will definitely drive away those Hu people." Ye Zhuoran almost had the words "The soldiers of our Dayan must be the most powerful" written on his face.
"You also said that our soldiers of Dayan are a group of fierce and fierce soldiers, but don't forget that there are still many civilians on the other side of the border. However, the thread of Dayan is so long that not every place has soldiers guarding it."
"The Hu soldiers can bypass our soldiers and come in from places where there are no soldiers guarding. Once the Hu soldiers enter the territory of Dayan, the people of Dayan will definitely suffer." When he said this, Lu Mingfei felt a little worried and had some bad premonitions.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming looked at each other and felt the same worry in their hearts.
"No, that's not the case?" When Ye Zhuoran said this, he no longer had the confidence he had just now.
Lu Mingfei sighed and said, "Now I just hope that the generals at the border can predict the actions of the Hu soldiers and prevent them from entering our Great Yan territory. I also hope that the court can gather enough food and military pay and send it to the border to provide for those soldiers fighting."
"Last year and the year before, there was drought in the north. The harvest there was already poor, and I'm afraid there's not much food left in the north. This year, there's a snowstorm, and there's also war going on. I'm afraid it's going to be a problem for the soldiers to get enough food."
The winter snows hadn't even melted when the Hu people gathered to attack. It was clear that the disaster outside the Great Wall was even more serious than he had expected.
Moreover, this winter, not only was the snowstorm severe outside the Great Wall, but even in Dayan, the snowstorm was also severe. However, the imperial court had not yet gathered the silver and supplies for disaster relief, and the emperor had not yet sent anyone to handle disaster relief and relief.
Judging from the situation, the imperial court is unlikely to come up with such a large sum of money for disaster relief and rescue, and the officials and people below can only rely on themselves to save themselves.
There are not many local officials who are dedicated to serving the people. Instead, corrupt officials are rampant. At this time, those corrupt officials are lucky not to add insult to injury. How could they possibly help ordinary people overcome their difficulties?
Now, the Hu army is at the gates again, and I am afraid that the imperial court will not be able to gather enough military pay, food, and medicine to send to the soldiers fighting at the border. Otherwise, the soldiers at the border will have to fight the enemy with empty stomachs, and the injured will lack medicine for treatment and can only lie down and wait for death.
These soldiers guarding the borders risked their lives fighting the enemy, largely because they had wives, children, and parents at home. Their loyalty to the imperial court was minimal. However, Lu Mingfei didn't blame the soldiers for this, as he knew how hard their lives were. Ultimately, it was the emperor and the officials in the capital who were truly inhumane.
From Ye Zhuoran's words today, and from what they had heard on their way back, Lu Mingfei knew that Dayan, from top to bottom, looked down upon the Hu people. However, many people seemed to have forgotten that every time Dayan fought a war with the Hu people, even if they won, the road was paved with the blood of their soldiers.
Far away in Kyoto, those who had never truly experienced the cruelty and suffering of war had only seen the fruits of victory, not the heavy price paid. They had only seen Dayan's victory, not the lives lost.
But Lu Mingfei, who came here from the past, knew that behind every war were countless sacrificed soldiers, countless families who lost their loved ones, and many children like the brothers Zhang Qi and Zhang Xiaobao.
Hearing this, Zhang Lingxuan and Fu Boming looked at each other, and their worries became even greater.
Ye Zhuoran looked at this friend, then looked at that friend, and asked in a somewhat weak tone: "No, isn't it?"
The other three people present all looked at Ye Zhuoran who was speaking, and no one answered Ye Zhuoran's question.
The silence at this moment is more terrifying than any sound.
While the students of the Imperial Academy were discussing the border war, the emperor also summoned the ministers of the six ministries to discuss the matter in the imperial study.
***
That night, Lu Mingfei met Zhao Lang who came to see him.
The two of them were in the attic of the Imperial College's library, looking at the Imperial College at night, neither of them spoke.
Zhao Lang leaned against the window, looking at the bright moon in the sky, with no expression on his face.
After a while, Lu Mingfei finally stopped looking into the distance and turned back to look at the person standing across from him. He took two steps forward, leaned close to Zhao Lang's ear, and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Have your people find a secluded spot in the mountains and move some of the craftsmen and food supplies there."
Zhao Lang lowered his eyes, looked at the boy's face so close to him, nodded and said "hmm".
"The snow disaster in the north is so serious this year. I heard that some victims have already come here. If it is not convenient for you to show up, I will ask my father and godfather to go out and recruit a group of people to work in our workshop. You can arrange someone who knows how to train soldiers for me." The last sentence has already made Lu Mingfei's purpose clear.
At this point, Lu Mingfei had to make preparations for both scenarios. It would be fine if the court could successfully overcome the difficulties this time, but he was afraid that chaos would break out.
Throughout history, dynasties have always followed the inevitable trend of division and unification, and unification and division. The Great Yan Dynasty had already stood firm in the face of storms for over two hundred years, and the current emperor was not a wise ruler. Coupled with the current situation at court, the combination of natural and man-made disasters did not allow him to prepare for the worst.
If we were to ask what is the most precious thing in troubled times, one is people, the second is weapons, and the third must be food.
In recent years, Zhao Lang had recruited a large number of craftsmen to work in the Zhuangzi workshop under the pretext of producing fans. However, only a few of them knew that these craftsmen not only produced the products sold in the shop, but also produced weapon parts.
However, Zhao Lang was in Kyoto Prefecture, with many eyes on him, so it was not appropriate for him to make any big moves. Fortunately, their relationship had never been exposed to the public, so if there was any movement on their side, no one would associate it with Zhao Lang.
Zhao Lang understood what Lu Mingfei meant after hearing his words, "Okay, I'll give it to you tomorrow."
That night, the two men discussed in the attic for half an hour before Lu Mingfei returned to his residence in the Imperial College. It was Zhao Lang who personally sent him back.
"Who?" When Zhao Lang returned to his residence in the Imperial College from the Imperial Academy, he noticed someone in his yard.
"It's me. Where have you been so late at night?" The Prince of Zhennan, Qijun, flew down from the roof and landed in front of Zhao Lang. He was holding two wine jars in his hands. He was drinking from one in his own hand, and the other in his own. He handed the unopened jar to Zhao Lang.
Zhao Lang took the jar of wine, flew to the roof, found a place to sit down, unsealed it, picked up the jar, tilted his head back and opened his mouth to catch the pouring wine.
Qi Jun also flew over and sat down next to Zhao Lang. Looking at Zhao Lang who didn't answer his question, he said, "I know. You must have gone to see your little lover."
Zhao Lang glanced at Qi Jun and said in a deep voice, "Don't talk nonsense."
"Haha, you're protecting me!" Qi Jun glanced at Zhao Lang, then picked up the wine jar and took a sip.
That night, the two brothers drank on the roof for half the night.
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