68 Why die? Live!
Huo Yan: To me, Huo Qubing is now a hanged ghost without clothes.
Huo Yan's premonition was correct.
Wei Qing did not participate in this battle, remaining in command of the central army, even having already formulated the battle strategy. Huo Qubing, the general's personal guard, was naturally useless, his daily duties dwindling to a mere overseeing the supply of fodder, weapons, and other supplies, and occasionally leading his men to survey for water sources. Wei Qing, a gifted general, personally taught Huo Qubing his military philosophy and watched him handle the tasks that required of him as a general. Huo Qubing's progress was almost tangible.
A general needs not only to charge into battle, but more importantly to coordinate all parties. On the battlefield, morale can be seen from the faces of the soldiers.
There are natural-born generals in the world, and Huo Qubing is the best among the best, but good jade also needs a good jade carver. Fortunately, Wei Qing, his closest elder, is one of them.
What he accumulates today will help him on the battlefield tomorrow.
There are natural-born generals, but even siblings aren't always born with the same instincts. Huo Yan simply didn't have that instinct. He had no idea where to set up camp or how to train his soldiers. The things Huo Qubing needed to understand were useless to him.
They are heading in different directions.
Wei Qing would not use the same method to torture Huo Yan as he did to torture Huo Qubing.
Rather than keeping Huo Qubing by his side all the time, he treated Huo Yan more like a free-range child. He allowed Huo Yan to accompany the army and move around the barracks freely. He usually didn't ask Huo Yan where he was going, but would call him in for questioning every few days. He probably knew that without Huo Qubing, Huo Yan could not leave the barracks.
Huo Yan felt at ease. He enjoyed this arrangement, which allowed him to observe carefully every day the logistical support required to run the army. He spent a few days with the militia's grain transport team, gaining an understanding of the army's ration consumption during transportation and the overall plan for rations from central government. By observing military drills, he would understand the army's preparations, and from this he would ponder the merits and demerits of weapons and the importance of protective equipment. Although the new iron method had been introduced to Liu Che, most soldiers still used the old iron armor, and the majority of the new iron was used for horseshoes. This was not only because of the shortage of iron, but more importantly, on the battlefield, horses were more valuable than men.
He planned to return to Chang'an and went to see Liu Che. He summoned his artisans and began to forge new armor, modeled after the Tang Dynasty's Ming Guang armor, reducing the iron content. He also wanted to call in some of the weapon forgers to reforge some new weapons. He also wanted to transfer some of the horse maintainers from his stables, as the health of the horses determined the cavalry's mobility.
There are many things he wants to do.
Behind every victory lies not only the brave fighting of the frontline soldiers, but also the orderly organization and dispatch in the rear. He used to dispatch food and military supplies to the army from the central government. To him, those were just words on the report. He had no idea about them. Until he came here and truly entered the lives of these soldiers, he realized that behind every word he wrote in the central government hung tens of thousands of lives.
His eyes see and his ears hear.
But his peaceful life was broken by another counterattack by the Huns. The wounded were carried to the medical tent one after another. The lights that never went out for days and the broken legs and limbs were all a sight that he saw.
Huo Yan saved the living and the dead in the bloody smell that seemed to never dissipate at his nose. He looked at the young men who had had a long talk with him yesterday and told him about carrying their brothers off the battlefield and wanted him to write a letter to his parents at home. His eyes suddenly became blurry today.
Compared to modern battlefields, ancient cold weapon warfare was far more brutal. Professional field doctors and nurses were virtually nonexistent on the chaotic battlefields, leaving the wounded without timely and effective care. Once seriously wounded, the vast majority of soldiers were destined for death. Only the lucky few, surviving the battle and spared from enemy demise, were rescued by their own comrades.
Even after being rescued, the mortality rate for seriously wounded soldiers remained alarmingly high. Given the limited medical resources available at the time, many serious injuries were simply impossible to treat. The high risk of infection and the difficulty healing wounds faced, coupled with a lack of effective painkillers and anti-infective medications, often resulted in immense suffering for the wounded. Consequently, few survived the battlefield and remained disabled.
The casualties under Wei Qing's rule had already been accounted for, but Huo Yan still felt that these two months had felt like a lifetime.
Because there were few doctors and their skills were limited, he treated himself like eight men. Amidst the coming and going of blood and gas, he set up a pot and boiled coptis chinensis soup for the wounded soldiers suffering from dysentery, hoping it would be effective. He was furious because he couldn't make alcohol, so he could only run around the camp, trying to find low-alcohol liquor to disinfect the soldiers. Due to the lack of medicine, he could only watch more people die from typhoid fever and wound infections.
He was powerless, he couldn't even be sad, because if he was sad and fell down, what would happen to the injured people behind him?
"War is not about being a hero!"
The young man lying in bed had an arrow lodged in his bone, unable to be pulled out. Although his leg was injured, he would eventually die from the wound festering. When he was rescued, the wound had turned blue and was beginning to fester. The young man looked at the young witch doctor, his eyes filled with despair and pain.
"Let me die!"
Huo Yan could barely lift the knife he used to scrape the dead flesh from patients when he heard this. He remembered the elderly couple he had met on their travels waiting for their son to return home. His heart darkened. He said, "I'll amputate your leg where the arrow hit it. Is that okay?"
A trace of fear rose in the young man's eyes, and he tried hard to shake his head, but the pain in his leg prevented him from saying a word.
Huo Yan looked at him and said, "Are your father-in-law and mother still at home? They all miss you coming back."
The young man's eyes were a little dazed, as if he remembered something. His eyes curved slightly, and a glimmer of hope and anger slowly emerged, and then there was only dead silence.
"If I go back, I won't even be able to farm. What will happen to my mother? She'd rather die." He forced himself to ask Huo Yan, "General, if I win, will the emperor reward my mother? Will he stop her from paying grain?"
Huo Yan's lips opened and closed weakly, as if a layer of bones had been peeled off him. He could only bend his knees slightly. Then, regardless of the young man's wishes, he pinched the young man's chin and fed him the prepared Ma Fei San.
"Prepare hemostatic powder, hot water, wine, clean cloths, and fire."
He called out to the other two doctors, saying that there were "military doctors" in the army at that time. However, most of them only knew basic herbal medicine and trauma treatment methods, and could only bandage wounds and use simple herbal remedies to stop bleeding and relieve pain. Using puffballs to stop bleeding was a common method.
So the last time they saw Huo Yan sewing someone's arm, they were almost scared to death, but Huo Yan's method was indeed good, and with their status, they were unwilling to resist. They hurriedly prepared things according to Huo Yan's instructions, but they were thinking in their hearts that there were people who were so cruel.
After everything he needed was ready, Huo Yan took out an unused thin-bladed dagger, wiped it with wine, and then held it to the lamp to burn it. Then he stood next to the young man beside the bed and cut somewhere on his leg.
The two doctors standing by to assist her watched Huo Yan's movements with wide eyes. She cut with a sharp and measured motion, without a hint of awkwardness. After two or three strokes, she had found the feeling and cut with a clean and sharp motion.
Beads of sweat appeared on the face of the person on the bed, and he was showing signs of waking up.
"Feed him again."
The two military doctors nearby hurriedly scooped up some Ma Fei San from a pot nearby and stuffed it into the man's mouth.
Huo Yan finally stopped his knife and deftly sewed the wound with hot water, then bandaged it. After he finished, he looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. The two doctors standing nearby had been lost in thought. When Huo Yan looked up at them, they snapped back to their senses and said, "Sir, this..."
Huo Yan put down what he was holding and washed his hands in a basin beside him. "Please, both of you, keep an eye on him. His wounds can't be exposed to water. If he's fine in the next few days, there should be no problem. Also," he paused, "if he wakes up and wants to commit suicide, tell him that I'm a close minister of the emperor and the nephew of General Wei. If we win this battle, the emperor will reward us. If the emperor doesn't, I will!"
"Just want them to live well, and I will take care of them."
After he finished speaking, he went to the next wounded person.
"Why are you dying? I saved you with great difficulty, keep you alive!"
There is no place for them in this world, so I will find a way to help them break it apart.
A living person is always more important than a dead person.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the imperial court provided the families of fallen soldiers with a certain amount of compensation, primarily in the form of money and food. This wealth helped the families maintain their basic needs and alleviated the financial hardship of losing their primary labor force. At the same time, there were reductions in corvée labor and taxes. For example, the family's land tax was exempted, and the number of years family members had to serve in labor service was reduced, which also alleviated the burden on the families to a certain extent. For soldiers who died in battle and performed particularly bravely, the imperial court might even provide their families with additional rewards, such as cloth and other supplies.
[But the policy is one thing, but implementing it is another. And how much will it matter to his mother?]
[This is the way the world is.]
[Brother Yan, stand tall and proud!]
[Brother, you are my only brother!]
[My brother said he would take care of it, so he definitely would. Don't try to commit suicide!]
[Who has a clearer conscience than me?]
…
The war ended with the Han army taking over the Hexi area.
The Han army moved camp, and Huo Yan left with Wei Qing.
He was riding a horse, and as he was riding, he became distracted.
"Ayan, do you want to go bird hunting with your brother?"
It was not until Wei Qing called him that he seemed to wake up from his dream and shook his head gently.
"Brother, go ahead. I'm not good at this, so I won't go."
Huo Qubing, who was standing next to him, had a worried look on his face. He also slowed down his pace, turned his horse's head, and rode alongside Huo Yan. He reached out and hooked Huo Yan's little finger.
"I really regret bringing you here, Ayan."
No one knew Huo Yan better than Huo Qubing.
Because his younger brother would always come to his bedside late at night, reeking of blood, and sit like a ghost. When he was half asleep, he would always say to him in a dark voice, "Brother, someone died again. I can't sleep. Please think of a way for me."
Huo Qubing felt that if he was not brave, he would not be able to be Huo Yan's brother.
"This is Henan, not Chang'an. Death is common."
The young man had the same face as him and looked at him quietly.
But what could he do? He just knocked the man unconscious and stuffed him into the bed.
Don't think too much, just go to sleep! Otherwise, you'll be so sleepy that you won't even be able to see the sun tomorrow.
Huo Yan chuckled, and seemed to be full of energy as he thought about the night when he had tormented Huo Qubing.
He stared at Huo Qubing, then pondered for a moment, and suddenly laughed again.
"What did you say? Brother. Don't take me! How dare you not take me! You are now a hanged ghost without clothes to me."
Huo Qubing's usually calm expression changed slightly.
It’s Ah Yan’s unique way of speaking again!
Li Xi was curious and asked Huo Yan what he meant.
Huo Yan smiled gently, "Shameless bastard."
Everyone laughed awkwardly.
Everyone was embarrassed, but Huo Qubing was not. He rode his horse slowly and leisurely, as if he was taking an afternoon stroll in the garden with Liu Che, listening to Liu Che reciting poems about the passing of spring and autumn.
Ayan is similar to his uncle's son, both were born in summer.
One moment it was so hot that he couldn't sleep, and then suddenly a violent storm came and the weather changed. But after all, the thunder couldn't kill him.
"Do you still want to go home for dinner? So don't think about the other one. Brother finds it disgusting."
Huo Qubing and Wei Qing shared the same generosity. Wei Qing listened to their conversation and said, "Eating is important."
Huo Yan's madness was inexplicably dampened by the two of them, leaving him with only a puffed-up head. "What a bummer, such a bummer! You don't understand me, you don't understand me at all!"
[Your idiom is quite sophisticated.]
[Last time, Ah Yan scolded Wang Wenshu for being a dung beetle on the tip of a whip—only aware of soaring through the clouds, unaware of the death before his eyes.]
[Ayan's mental state seems to be much better.]
[He wants to make something big.]
…
【Author’s words】
A Yan is sad, but he belongs to summer, strong and energetic.
Qubing is completely different from Azheng. Azheng is the guiding type. He doesn't allow Xiuying to do anything wrong. He is a true father, eager to arrange everything for Xiuying and make her life smooth. What Xiuying lacks is a sense of certainty and the security of guidance.
Qubing is the companion type. He is the type who will do whatever you want, and then do it! If you do something bad, it’s interesting, and then do it!
He is that super cute little sun who favors you unconditionally and has the instincts of a beast.
Being around him, you don’t feel old at all, because even if he doesn’t talk much, he is still that energetic person.
A Yan is completely different from Xiu Ying. If it were Xiu Ying, she would let this person die. She respects other people's choices, but A Yan is like this: I think I can let you live, so why don't you live? I will help you live.
He and Sima Qian were also like this: if you are good, I will help you get along well. If there is a problem, I will solve it.
Both he and Qubing are people with high energy. The atmosphere of the Wei family has fully cultivated his narcissistic, protective and non-internal character.
He likes the sense of adventure, but Xiuying likes stability.
They are completely different, so A Yan definitely doesn't like A Zheng, he would really be annoyed.
Even if Liu Che controlled him too much, he would be dissatisfied. He was suitable for being left alone. He liked his brother, who was impetuous and confident, and was the most partial to him. Look at Liu Che, Wei Qing, Sima Qian, and Zhufu Yan: they were all like this.
A rebel like him was suitable for the Han Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han.
PS: Qubing will not like Cancan either, because Cancan is too gentle and too obedient. She never says anything, and he is not very good at understanding sensitive people.
When I finished reading the history book and wrote about Ayan’s character, I was devastated.
Because Cancan and I look a lot like each other, okay, Cancan and I look super alike.
It’s over. I am the person that Qubing hates the most, a sensitive and self-destructive person.
It’s all over!
Then he silently picked up his little notebook and kowtowed to the word "Qubing" on the wall.
I worked so hard to write this baby, I can't possibly kill him. So just bear with me if I get sick. If I get sick, just bear with me.
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