Four days later, the five thousand vanguard cavalry of the Liangzhou army had leisurely arrived at an earthen city thirty miles from the border between the Han and Dongqiang.
A scout on horseback galloped swiftly from west to east, arriving at the front of the large army.
"General, once we cross the border, the Shaodangma tribe is another 150 li to the southwest!"
Upon hearing this, the deputy general in charge tightened the reins, nodded, then turned to his personal guard and gave the order:
"The entire army shall halt here and set up camp for the night!"
"promise!"
At the deputy general's command, the five thousand vanguard troops halted their advance, dismounted, and began feeding their horses and setting up camp under the leadership of their respective centurions.
The deputy general, accompanied by several guards, began patrolling the camp.
"Report!"
Just as the deputy general was on his inspection tour, a messenger suddenly rushed up to him.
Looking at the messenger's appearance, the lieutenant asked in a deep voice, "What is it?"
"General Duan has ordered the vanguard to halt their advance and rest here. They will depart again in two days!" the messenger said respectfully.
The lieutenant was slightly taken aback, then nodded. "Yes, I understand! Go and report to General Duan that my troops have begun to set up camp here!"
"promise!"
After the messenger hurriedly left, the deputy general's personal guard asked with some confusion:
"General, you all say that speed is of the essence in war, but we left the camp in a hurry and only marched for less than half a day before slowing down. What should have been a two-day journey took us four days. Now General Duan wants us to rest here. What does this mean?"
The lieutenant turned to look at his personal guard and laughed, "Haha~ So you know about the importance of speed in war? Not bad, not bad!"
The guard chuckled and scratched his head. "Hehe~ Following the general, I'll have to learn a lot, won't I!"
Then the lieutenant patted the guard on the shoulder, "Hehe~ Speed is of the essence in war, that's true! But some things can't be accomplished just by being fast! You still have a lot to learn, kid!"
After speaking, the deputy general recovered and continued his inspection. The guard, however, stood there, somewhat bewildered. He still didn't understand what needed to be done more slowly.
In Deyang Palace, Cheng Yu's secret letter and Duan Jiong and Fu Xie's joint memorial had been delivered to Liu Hong.
After reading the joint memorial signed by Duan Jiong and Fu Xie, Liu Hong merely chuckled.
Then he looked at Zhang Rang, who was standing to the side, and said, "Summon Grand Tutor Chen Fan and Grand Commandant Li Ying to the palace for a meeting!"
"promise!"
After Zhang Rang left, Liu Hong remembered the matter of Juyan mentioned in Cheng Yu's secret letter.
Juyan is connected to the Qilian Mountains to the west. Its geographical location was very important to the Han Dynasty. In order to open up the Hexi Corridor, Huo Qubing passed through Juyan, whether he was attacking the Yuezhi who occupied Jiuquan and Dunhuang or marching north to attack the Xiongnu.
Although Juyan is now nominally a vassal state of the Han Dynasty, Liu Hong still felt uneasy. Such an important military stronghold should only be completely incorporated into the territory of the Han Dynasty and become a part of it.
Liu Hong closed his eyes and began to ponder deeply, while Jian Shuo stood quietly to the side, not daring to even breathe loudly. The Deyang Palace fell into silence.
After a long while, Liu Hong slowly opened his eyes.
"Jian Shuo!"
"Ah? This servant is here!"
Upon hearing the emperor suddenly call his name, Jian Shuo, who was standing nearby, immediately bowed and came to Liu Hong's side.
Liu Hong picked up a pen and wrote a note, then handed it to Jian Shuo, who calmly took the note and put it into his sleeve.
Then Liu Hong said in a deep voice, "The Research and Manufacturing Department has produced three thousand new hand crossbows and one hundred thousand crossbow bolts. You take the Imperial Guards and deliver them to the cavalry in Bingzhou."
Furthermore, send Dong Zhuo to Dunhuang to be in charge of escorting the merchant caravans!
"promise!"
Jian Shuo then quickly left Deyang Palace, found a secluded spot, took out the note, and after reading and memorizing its contents, he tore it up like Zhao Zhong had done before, stuffed it into his mouth, and swallowed it with difficulty.
Not long after Jian Shuo left, Chen Fan and Li Ying arrived at Deyang Palace.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects!"
"Hehe~ No need for formalities! Please sit down!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"Grand Tutor and Grand Commandant, please take a look at this first!"
After Chen Fan and Li Ying sat down, before they could speak, Liu Hong handed the joint memorial from Fu Xie and Duan Jiong to Zhang Rang beside him.
Zhang Rang bowed and accepted the memorial, then quickly walked to Chen Fan and respectfully handed it to him.
"Insolent fools! How could those two act so recklessly?" After reading it, Chen Fan was furious and immediately stood up.
"Grand Tutor, what has happened?"
Li Ying, standing to the side, looked at Chen Fan, who was about to jump up, somewhat confused. The two had known each other for many years, and this was only the second time he had seen Chen Fan lose his temper like this. The last time was the Yang Qiu incident.
"Grand Tutor, please don't be angry yet. Let the Grand Commandant take a look first!"
Seeing Chen Fan's state, Liu Hong was genuinely worried that he might get into a serious accident, so he quickly spoke up to persuade him.
"It was my rudeness, Your Majesty! Please forgive me!"
Upon hearing Liu Hong speak, Chen Fan finally came to his senses. After apologizing to Liu Hong, he handed the memorial to Li Ying, who was staring at him expectantly.
"this....."
After reading the contents of the memorial, Li Ying couldn't help but frown. However, unlike Chen Fan, he did not get angry. After returning the memorial to Zhang Rang, he quietly looked at the emperor on the throne.
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