New General
Chapter 40: New General
In recent days, Chu Huaibei had noticed that Uncle Deng walked with a vigorous energy, as if he could live another 500 years. He vividly portrayed the exhilaration of joy. The master and apprentice were either conducting experiments or teaching and answering questions. Deng Ran was deeply moved. Hu Zhi often understood questions quickly and could draw inferences from one instance to another. This had cured him of the frustration he had felt with Chu Huaibei.
He once doubted his own teaching ability. Why was it so difficult for Chu Huaibei to understand what he said? It turned out that it was not his teaching method that was wrong, but simply someone was not enlightened...
Chu Huaibei was happy to see this. After all, she didn't stay at home for long. Hengheng now spent all his time studying with Du Jiping except for practicing martial arts with her in the morning. Huzhi couldn't go out, and she was worried that he would be bored at home. Now he was studying medicine with Uncle Deng, and it was good to have something to do.
The emperor is taking a long time to select generals this time. It's been almost ten days, and there's still no news. She should be starting this year's grand patrol by the end of November at the latest. What's going on? Are the factions behind these generals still fighting? It's really annoying...
Chu Huaibei had already given up hope when he saw the situation. He couldn't afford to slack off any longer, so he quickly rearranged his personnel to prevent the Mongolian army from taking advantage. The Mongols must have gotten the message too. The loss of a general was a good thing for them, regardless of whether the new general arrived in the north. They might have already started preparing for a surprise attack.
This year she planned to leave General Zhongwu Song Shoujie, General Guide Li Guyan and General Xuanwei Yang Sui to guard the camp, and only take Deputy Generals Qin Feng and Xue Zhan with her for patrol. The patrol force would be 15,000 people. She would rather go slowly to ensure safety. Her life was also very important now, and behind her were hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians in the northern border.
Given last year's situation, Chu Huaibei made direct assignments this year, without rotating the candidates. Remarkably, none of the generals objected, agreeing without hesitation. Perhaps Guo Jun's death had cast a shadow over them. Whether he was truly killed by the Mongols or by someone else, guarding the camp at home might have given them more peace of mind than a month spent sleeping in the open. After all, the only people left by their side were their trusted confidants.
Chu Huaibei spent half a month selecting his troops and generals, arranging all the arrangements for the patrol, and was ready to set off in two days. Unexpectedly, the new Huaihua General arrived at the military camp the day before the patrol.
"General Jin Hongye pays his respects to the King of Zhenbei!" Jin Hongye knelt on one knee and saluted.
"No need to be so polite. Please stand up quickly. General Jin, you must have traveled hard for days."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. It's not hard for me. This is my duty."
"General Jin, I will set off tomorrow. All the patrol affairs have been arranged. You can stay in the camp to rest and get familiar with the environment." Not knowing the newcomer's situation, Chu Huaibei planned to leave him in the barracks and have someone look after him.
"Your Highness! I am willing to go on patrol with Your Highness. I will take a rest today and then I can get ready to set off." Jin Hongye immediately expressed his wish.
"General Jin has just arrived in the northern border and may not have adapted to the winter in the northern border yet. The patrol will need to last for a month. I appreciate General Jin's kindness and will definitely bring you on patrol next year." Chu Huaibei directly refused and asked the man to stay and have a good rest.
I said goodbye to my family in advance and received my mother's instructions, Huzhi's bodyguard eleven, Hengheng's kiss, Uncle Deng's pills and powder, Aunt Wen's knee pads, and this year there were also Du Jiping's instructions.
On November 29, the fifth year of Jingren, the patrol army set out.
The day after Chu Huaibei left, Sun Mingsi received a letter from Jin Yi: "According to the master's previous instructions, the official dispatches had been disrupted. General Gong, who had originally chosen the eldest prince's camp, had someone instigate the second prince to mess things up."
Later, General Wang from the Second Prince's camp was chosen. He was ready to take up his post, but before he even left the north gate of Fengjing, he encountered his concubine who was raised in the suburbs and brought her child into the city. The boy's cry of "Dad" scared the general's wife who was seeing her off, so much that her eyebrows raised in disdain, and they started fighting in the street without any regard for their dignity.
He was later stopped by the Imperial Censor and reported to the Emperor that same day. The Emperor rescinded his appointment due to his poor personal ethics and ordered him to return home to reflect on his actions. His subordinates discovered that this was the work of the Third Prince.
Then he chose General Zhuang from the Third Prince's camp. His subordinates put laxatives in his family's food every day. All his family members fell ill and spread the word that this was revenge from the First and Second Princes. He had no choice but to drag his sick body to the emperor to resign.
Finally, the emperor dispatched Jin Hongye to the northern border. Jin Hongye was the eldest son of the master's aunt, the newly crowned top martial arts scholar, and a member of the Yangzhou Jin family. Apart from him, no one else in the Jin family held official positions. Rumor has it that Jin Hongye greatly admired the Prince of Zhenbei.
After reading it, Sun Mingsi smiled. He didn't expect that Jin Yi would also start gossiping. It seemed that he was very satisfied with the recipe he sent.
After writing a letter back to Jin Yi, Sun Mingsi sat at his desk and reflected on the past. Before his death, his grandfather must have warned his family that they could not serve as officials, at least not while the current emperor was still alive. He wondered what had happened to his cousin, how he had managed to convince his family to take the imperial examination.
Daxia originally valued civil officials over military officials. This martial arts champion was not only dispensable, but would also make the emperor think of this kind of person, which would make him even less likely to be valued. This time, time was tight and Jin Yi intervened, which made the original candidates unsuitable, and he got lucky instead.
However, he wouldn't be safe in the north. Once the three princes emerged victorious, he would either be recalled to Fengjing or somewhere else, or killed in office and replaced by another prince. Neither outcome was good.
Sun Mingsi finally picked up his pen and wrote a letter, asking Jin Jiu to personally deliver it to the mistress of the Jin Mansion in Yangzhou.
Jin Gu returned with a letter from his aunt, its edges still stained with dried tears, revealing the letter's owner's inner turmoil. Most of the letter was filled with concern and greetings, and only later did it explain the reason. His grandfather had indeed warned him not to serve in the court, but his family was deeply concerned about his situation. Without anyone at court, any useful information would be lost. Since civil servants were out of the question, a military officer, with a lower profile, was an option.
Among the younger generations of the two families, only Jin Hongye has been wielding swords and sticks since he was a child. He is loved by his family and has studied martial arts seriously under a master, so they let him try to take the exam for this year's martial arts champion. Unexpectedly, he passed the exam. He came back and said that those of the same age were not his opponents. He didn't even use 70% of his strength and defeated everyone.
They hadn't anticipated this transfer to the Northern Territory; such a thing shouldn't have happened to the newly appointed champion. His aunt's mere words of concern for his cousin's safety were a stark contrast to the lengthy greetings above. It seemed this cousin had been a source of worry since childhood.
After all, it was all because of him. Now that they have come to the northern border, I have to take good care of them and not let them die here.
Sun Mingsi wrote a reply, telling his aunt not to worry about him, saying he was fine. He also said he would take good care of his cousin and would make sure nothing happened to him in the northern border. He also told his aunt not to let anyone else know about this, not even his cousin, and that he would tell her when the time was right.
Jin Hongye was currently exploring the military camp. He had come alone, carrying only a bundle containing two changes of clothes and some money. Upon arriving at the camp, the King of Zhenbei assigned him two soldiers as his attendants, who also took him on a tour of the camp and Youyun City.
After strolling around the military camp on horseback, Jin Hongye asked his followers if the camp was far from Youyun City and if they could take him to some delicious and fun places.
The attendants followed the prince's instructions before leaving and took them to the Maji Restaurant in the west of the city for a meal. Jin Hongye had only entered Fengjing in June of this year to await the imperial examination and had rarely ventured out. After passing the exam, he celebrated with a meal at a small restaurant he had heard was the best. He then hurried home and was dispatched to the northern border just two weeks after taking office in Fengjing.
At this time, Jin Hongye was also shocked when he tasted the delicious food in Fengjing Restaurant in the northern border. In his understanding, the northern border was a poor and cold place with relatively scarce resources. How could it compare with his hometown Yangzhou, the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, which was rich in products and a gathering place for literati and elegant people, and was not much worse than Fengjing.
Even when it comes to food, Fengjing still has the upper hand. It was in Fengjing that he ate the honey-glazed barbecue that left him with an unforgettable aftertaste, and the charcoal-grilled skeleton after the meat, paired with a little wine, which was a heavenly delicacy.
But! He actually had the same honey-glazed barbecue in the North! And it seemed the roasting technique was more skillful, the timing more perfect, the roasted lamb was tender and juicy, and the skin was crispy and fragrant. It was so delicious!
Jin Hongye no longer cared what his followers thought of him. He ate heartily, except when he was about to drink, he was stopped by his followers. They stated that all soldiers were forbidden to drink during patrol, and those who disobeyed the order would be punished with thirty military sticks. Although it was a pity, he really didn't dare to disobey the order. He knew the strength of the military stick. After thirty sticks, he would be crippled if not killed.
After a hearty meal, he even brought the unfinished bones back to the barracks, ready to finish his evening meal and have a good meal. When he received the imperial decree to come to the Northern Territory, he had already prepared himself for the food in the barracks to be unpalatable. To his surprise, his food was quite good. He had thought it was only for generals, but after checking out the ordinary soldiers, he found that their food was also quite good, at least better than the ordinary people in his hometown. There was meat and vegetables, and the staple food was steamed buns made with leavened dough, which he had only eaten in Fengjing.
After a few days of wandering around, his perception of the Northern Territory changed dramatically. He realized that under the governance of the King of Zhenbei, the people of the Northern Territory were so stable. Although the products were not as abundant as those in the south of the Yangtze River, they were not bad either. This made him admire the King of Zhenbei even more.
It's just a pity that he came too late. The King of Zhenbei didn't want him to join the patrol. Maybe he was afraid that he was a novice and didn't know anything and might cause problems. But he wouldn't interfere with his arrangements. He just wanted to fight side by side with him. Apart from anything else, he thought his kung fu was pretty good.
During this time, his attendants even moved all the official documents from General Huaihua to his tent, saying that the King of Zhenbei wanted him to familiarize himself with military affairs first. He patiently flipped through three books, then banged his head on the desk, his mind roaring like a raccoon. Why would a general fighting in a war have so many official documents to read and so many miscellaneous tasks to deal with?!
He had been in office in Fengjing for half a month. Every day he only had to report to the government office. No one cared about him the rest of the time! How could there be anything to deal with? He could only read and write. What should he do if he was asked to write these documents in the future? He couldn't write them, and his handwriting was much worse than the ones on the documents. He regretted not listening to his mother's advice and practicing hard. This time he was really going to make a fool of himself...
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