He Qing first met Lan Ya when he was nineteen years old. She was a little girl whose eyes looked particularly big because she was thin. She was about eleven or twelve years old. She was holding a bundle containing two pairs of shoes she had made.
She said she made it in a hurry because her eldest brother took nothing with him when he joined the army because their home had just been looted and burned by the Northern Huns, leaving nothing behind.
But she heard that military uniforms and salaries might not be available in time, and new recruits would have to wait even longer. Without suitable clothes, they would suffer during training.
When her eldest brother left, his clothes were already in bad shape, full of patches, and the uppers of his shoes were torn.
She didn't know where her elder brother was, so she could only wait outside the military camp and ask everyone she met.
Until she saw He Qing, she said, "Please, sir, find my elder brother and give him these shoes."
At that time, He Qing thought that she was doing something unnecessary. The army would issue military uniforms and military shoes. Aren’t they better than the cloth shoes she made herself?
But the girl had stood in front of the military camp for two hours just to give her these two pairs of shoes. He immediately took them and said to the girl, "What's your brother's name? Let me help you find out."
The little girl said, "Blue sky."
This surname was rare, so He Qing remembered it and walked in. Suddenly, the little girl rushed forward, grabbed him and took the two pairs of shoes back.
"An official like you wouldn't help me find someone to deliver shoes. I can see that you're just giving me a perfunctory reply. You took these shoes away and threw them away to me. My brother still can't wear them."
He Qing looked at her and said, "Little girl, since I promised you, I will do it for you. I really think your brother may not need these shoes, but I won't just throw them away for you."
The girl looked at him doubtfully, hesitated for a while, then stuffed the shoes back into his arms and said, "I'm sorry, sir. I apologize to you.
If you find my eldest brother, please tell him that the family can only afford two pairs of shoes. If you give me some time, I can buy him a set of clothes."
When He Qing really found Lan Tian in the recruit camp, he realized that what the little girl said was true, and he had taken it for granted.
Lan Ya's older brother, Lan Tian, was training barefoot, his shirt unbuttoned in a hurry to meet the official. Furthermore, his shirt was tattered.
It seems that Lan Ya's two pairs of shoes are really a timely help, as her elder brother's feet are covered with blisters.
He Qing was already a young general in the army at that time, so she asked her elder brother to take off his shirt.
He Qing saw that Lan Tian's shoulders, back, arms, chest, and abdomen were all covered with wounds.
Feeling that something was not right, he asked a dozen or so new recruits nearby to take off their tattered clothes. Everyone did the same. Upon closer inspection, he found out that they didn't have any military uniforms. In order to save on clothes and shoes, they were training almost naked, rubbing their skin and enduring the scorching sun.
He Qing thought that the treasury was empty, people's lives were poor, and it was not easy to support the army.
He Qing, Ren Jiayong, and Shen Yun were all considered young generals favored by the Duke of Fuguo. Perhaps because of this, their armies were relatively well-stocked with supplies, so much so that He Qing was unaware of the plight of many new recruits and soldiers in other camps.
He Qing felt uncomfortable seeing this, but he didn't have any extra clothes at the time, so he took off all the clothes on himself and the six soldiers accompanying him, and let the dozen or so people share some of their clothes, so that everyone could practice with some clothes.
He told Lan Ya what she said. Lan Ya was silent for a long time before he said, "When I left, there was nothing left at home. I don't know how Lan Ya managed to find these two pairs of shoes for me.
I originally said that I would give it to her when my brother joined the army and got paid, but now I want my sister to struggle to find my shoes and clothes."
Only then did He Qing realize that the salaries of these new recruits were still owed and had not been paid for some unknown reason.
Many years later, he finally understood that the soldiers' plight at the time was not because the country was in trouble and unable to provide them, but because the country was in trouble but still tried its best to provide them. This was because the dignified Duke Fuguo colluded with Qu Hongfu to make money in the army.
Damn it.
Before the execution of the Duke of Fuguo, He Qing went to visit him. As a junior who had once been promoted by him, as a comrade-in-arms who had fought side by side with him, as the military corruption that he hated the most, and as the culprit behind the deaths of Shen Yun and 8,000 soldiers that he could not let go of, the two of them drank silently facing each other.
Finally, the Duke of Fuguo said, "I am too greedy after all. I want the life of luxury after I take off my armor, and I also want the ambition of a man to achieve great things and become famous in the world.
In the end, I was unable to keep either the money or the fame. I once thought I had accomplished it, that I had defeated the Northern Huns, escaped unscathed, become rich enough to rival an entire nation, and leave my name in history. What a pity.
He Qing stood up and walked out. To this day, he only regretted that he almost succeeded. He wanted fame and wealth, but he only regretted that he failed at the last moment.
He Qing paused and said, "You want so much. Lan Tian only wants to be able to go home alive to see his sister, and if he dies, his pension and military pay can be left to his sister. Because of you, neither of these two humble wishes can be fulfilled."
The Duke of Fuguo asked, "Who is Lan Tian?"
He Qing looked at him and said, “One of the eight thousand soldiers who died in Labagou.
To you, he is just a name on the roster, a drop of water squeezed out of the ocean of wealth you have gathered, but he is the man his sister Lan Ya has been waiting for for more than ten years, waiting for.
He Qing is now a general. In the eyes of the Duke of Fuguo, if we only look at his abilities, he is indeed a good general and a famous commander. Considering that he has fought for the country in the past, He Qing originally ordered a thin coffin.
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