The army marched in an orderly manner, with flags flying! Before long, they were arrayed outside the city!
The neat shouts resounded through the sky!
The soldiers returned to the capital exhausted. Although they looked very tired, the joy of victory could not be concealed on their faces!
Jiang Yueyang and General Zhenguo rode towards them on horseback, while Lu Yunting and General Zhang Xiao also rode towards them on horseback.
General Zhenguo glanced at everyone and said loudly, "Thank you for your hard work, welcome home!"
"We have fulfilled our mission!" Lu Yunting and General Zhang responded in unison with their fists clasped, and the soldiers behind them followed suit.
"His Majesty has already ordered a reward for the three armies. The two generals, please bring your men with you to the palace to attend the celebration banquet."
General Feng and some soldiers stayed in East Turkestan to deal with post-war issues and have not returned yet.
Lu Yunting nodded, and then sent someone to arrange for the army to go to the garrison.
A victorious army usually would not enter the city, but would camp outside the city, awaiting the emperor's arrangements.
At this time, the army lined up outside the city to let the people of Daxia and the foreign envoys in the city know how powerful the Daxia army is!
Afterwards, the army went to the garrison, and Lu Yunting and General Zhang Xiao led a group of soldiers into the city.
Lu Yunting rode to Jiang Yueyang's side. Just as he was about to speak, he saw Jiang Yueyang smiling and said, "Ayue, welcome home."
Lu Yunting's mouth corners slightly raised, his eyes full of tenderness, and he whispered: "I'm back."
The two men walked slowly forward side by side, and the people around them lined the streets to cheer and applaud the victorious soldiers!
Soon, they arrived at the Hanyuan Hall where the celebration banquet was held.
Emperor Yuan and the Empress sat on the throne, looking at the soldiers below with smiles on their faces.
“My fellow soldiers, I am deeply pleased that you fought bravely and won the victory in this expedition to Eastern Turkestan.
Today I have specially held a banquet here to celebrate your success!" The emperor's voice was loud and clear, spreading throughout the hall.
Lu Yunting and General Zhang Xiao led all the soldiers to stand up and express their gratitude, and said that defending the country was their responsibility.
Emperor Yuan nodded with satisfaction, then gave away fine wine and delicious food and raised his glass to toast the soldiers!
At the same time, the soldiers at the military camp also enjoyed delicious food and fine wine!
They ate meat and drank wine with big mouthfuls, and the scene was very lively!
In a blink of an eye, night fell and the celebration banquet came to an end.
After Emperor Yuan called away Lu Yunting, General Zhang and others, the others left the palace one after another.
In Emperor Yuan’s Taiji Palace.
Without waiting for Emperor Yuan to speak, General Zhang knelt on one knee, clasped his fists and pleaded guilty, "Your Majesty, I am guilty, please punish me!"
Emperor Yuan, who was about to reward them for their merits, narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard General Zhang's words, "Hmm? What's your crime?"
General Zhang lowered his head and replied, "Before this, Qiu Jian raised his army to cause chaos. Your Majesty has punished the entire Cangwu Army, but I have not yet carried out the punishment. I have committed dereliction of duty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"
Emperor Yuan remained calm and continued to ask, "Why not execute it?"
"Because I wanted the Cangwu Army to truly believe in me, I made a bet with them... In the end, I was lucky enough to fulfill my mission. Today's Cangwu Army is no longer the Lu Family Army of the past!"
After listening to General Zhang's explanation, Emperor Yuan's gaze slowly shifted to Lu Yunting.
Seeing this, Lu Yunting bowed and said, "Everything General Zhang said is true! During this battle against the Eastern Turks, General Zhang and I had a disagreement on tactics. The Cangwu Army led by General Zhang collectively supported General Zhang's decision. General Feng can testify to this."
Hearing this, General Zhang felt extremely ashamed. He made a wrong decision, but fortunately it didn't cause too many casualties in the end.
Emperor Yuan glanced at the Zuo Xiang, Minister Jiang, Minister of War and others present and asked, "Did you hear what General Zhang just said?"
Several people looked at each other, unable to guess what Emperor Yuan was thinking.
After a while, Minister Jiang stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I just heard General Zhang say that the Cangwu Army is no longer the Lu Family Army of the past."
Emperor Yuan nodded, "I heard this, too. Did he say anything else?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. My hearing has been inconsistent lately, and I only heard that sentence just now. May I ask, Your Majesty, did I miss it?"
Emperor Yuan raised his lips slightly, "No, I only heard that one sentence just now."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present immediately knew what Emperor Yuan was thinking. General Zhang and Lu Yunting were very surprised.
The imperial edict has been issued and there is no possibility of taking it back.
However, the Cangwu army has made great contributions in the war against the Eastern Turks. If they are punished again, it may discourage thousands of soldiers.
For this reason, Emperor Yuan could only pretend that he didn't know about this matter. This not only maintained the face of the royal family, but also warmed the hearts of the soldiers.
The Left Prime Minister and the Minister of War had no objection to this.
All the Cangwu soldiers who followed Qiu Jian in the rebellion had been executed, and the Cangwu soldiers stationed on the border were innocent because they were implicated.
Moreover, if the Cangwu Army is really no longer the Lu Army of the past, then there is no need for punishment.
Seeing that none of them raised any objections, Emperor Yuan slowly looked at General Zhang who was still kneeling on the ground and asked with a smile, "Why are you kneeling on the ground, my dear?"
"Your humble servant..." General Zhang found it unbelievable and did not stand up for a while.
General Zhenguo standing by reminded him, "Don't get up yet."
General Zhenguo's words brought him back to his senses like a war drum, and General Zhang hurriedly thanked him and stood up.
Emperor Yuan looked at Lu Yunting and General Zhang and asked calmly, "You two have made great contributions in this battle. Tell me, what reward do you want?"
General Zhang was the first to speak: "Your Majesty is already very kind not to hold me accountable for my dereliction of duty. I dare not ask for more."
Emperor Yuan frowned, it seemed that the child was not very smart.
General Zhenguo covered his face. How could he have given birth to such a stupid son? His Majesty had already pretended not to know, but he still mentioned it!
Others also shook their heads, thinking that General Zhang should stay in the court to hone his skills for a few more years!
With the guidance of those people in the Censorate, you will definitely become more tactful.
When General Zhang saw Emperor Yuan frowning, he realized that he had said something stupid and said hurriedly, "Your Majesty, I will be stationed at the border for many years to come. Please allow me to return to Beijing to visit my family every year."
"Okay." Emperor Yuan agreed without any hesitation.
Then, Emperor Yuan looked at Lu Yunting, "What about you?"
Lu Yunting knelt on one knee and said firmly: "The Cangwu Army has been stationed at the border for many years. Your Majesty, please let the various armies take turns to garrison the border and implement a rotation system!"
Emperor Yuan stared at Lu Yunting with half-closed eyes and pondered for a while, and finally slowly uttered the word "accurate".
When Lu Yunting heard this, he immediately thanked him, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!"
Everyone present smiled at the same time, the Cangwu army finally got their reward after all the suffering.
His Majesty finally slowly let go of his fear of the Cangwu Army.
On the other side, Jiang Yueyang limped out of the palace gate and stood next to the imperial guards waiting for Lu Yunting to come out.
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