Chapter 775 A Century of Wealth and Glory Begins with This Battle!

Some time ago, on the snow plains, there was a young tribal chief who knew how to read and loved to be sentimental. After drinking, he imitated the imagined literati of the Qian Kingdom, raising his wine bowl to the moon and lamenting:

How laughable that I, a noble member of the Holy Tribe, am now akin to a docile dog at the feet of the Marquis of Pingxi!

Afterward,

this young chief had his leg broken by his father;

after being imprisoned, his younger brother naturally inherited the position of young tribal chief.

Because their father was one of the first tribal leaders to betray the Wild Man King.

Now, the Marquis of Pingxi's orders have once again arrived on the snow plains.

What differs from the last order is that this one clearly states rewards, according to merit, one can obtain land within the passes.

Many tribal leaders were shocked by this reward,

wasn't it for land within the passes that the previous generation of wild men followed the Wild Man King to invade?

In addition, the Marquis of Pingxi's manor already had wild men farming the land, and they were being used as "models" and "examples." The Marquis's manor frequently dispatched them to escort goods to the snow plains, in reality, it was for propaganda.

These wild man models also worked hard. Firstly, everyone has a need to show off and feel satisfied. Secondly, they hoped that more and more wild men could enter the Marquis's rule. With more people, they might not be able to compare to the Yan and Jin people, but at least they wouldn't be oppressed by the barbarians, right?

Therefore, many wild men on the snow plains knew what kind of lives their "compatriots" were living within the passes. Wild men are generally called wild men, but in reality, they don't have a unified national concept. Thus, many wild men on the snow plains dreamed of becoming model households under the rule of the Marquis of Pingxi.

As for the nobles of the snow plains tribes, some of them do have ambition, and whether or not they have the ability, it doesn't stop them from dreaming of becoming the next Wild Man King;

but there are also many wild man nobles who want to leave the snow plains and work for the Marquis of Pingxi in Fengxin City. Even being a rich man is better than being on the snow plains.

Moreover, there has always been a rule in the Xuehai Pass trade market: for the wild man nobles on the snow plains, first determine your assets; gold and silver jewelry are fine, enslaved populations are fine, flocks of sheep and horses are fine. Once your assets are qualified, you can move your entire family to Fengxin City.

The Wild Man King once suggested using trade to control the snow plains, but after actually trying it, the Wild Man King was shocked by the Marquis's methods.

In short,

driven by both the big stick and the promise of benefits from the Marquis's manor, a new round of 25,000 cavalrymen conscripted from the snow plains were gathered again. Keyan Dongge personally led a portion of the troops, half leading and half guarding them, to Zhennan Pass.

…

"After the war, are we really going to give them land?"

Chen Xianba looked at the messy wild man队伍队伍marching below, frowning slightly.

He was a Yan man, a true Yan man, who inherited the deep-rooted racial discrimination of the old Yan people.

Chen Xianba didn't mind the Marquis conscripting wild men from the snow plains to enter the pass. War always means death; it's better for wild men to die than for his own people to die. But he also knew that the Marquis's external promises would definitely be fulfilled.

Because that's the Marquis of Pingxi, a man of his word!

Xu An, also a Jin Shuke's personal guard, smiled and pointed south,

and said:

"Look, there's plenty of land in Shanggu County, south of our Zhennan Pass."

There are two strategic passes in Jin East: Xuehai Pass to the north and Zhennan Pass to the south.

In Xu An's words, these wild men are essentially entering the pass from the north and then leaving the south to farm the land.

"Hehe, haha."

Chen Xianba was immediately delighted to hear this, patted Xu An's shoulder, and said:

"Exactly, exactly! Let them go to Shanggu County to farm, haha!"

Xu An frowned slightly; this kid really doesn't know how strong he is.

"Impudent!"

Jin Shuke's voice came from behind.

Xu An and Chen Xianba immediately turned around and knelt on one knee.

Jin Shuke kicked Xu An in the chest, sending him flying. Chen Xianba was strong, and Jin Shuke's kick only made him sway a little without falling.

Next, Jin Shuke kicked him three more times.

Finally, Chen Xianba understood and fell to the ground.

Jin Shuke exhaled,

glared at Xu An,

and cursed:

"Just because you have a little brain, you think you're so great, huh? The battle hasn't even started yet!"

"This subordinate is guilty!"

Jin Shuke looked at Chen Xianba again and cursed:

"Don't you know your voice is loud? Are you afraid others won't hear what you're saying? Believe it or not, I'll make you a courier Sima!"

The courier Sima is responsible for delivering orders between the commander and the various military leaders.

Chen Xianba immediately became anxious. He dreamed of getting a chance to charge into battle; how could he be willing to be a messenger?

"General, this subordinate was wrong, please don't..."

"Shut up!"

Chen Xianba immediately shut his mouth.

"The Marquis once taught me that before any battle, one must first calm down. Look at the two of you, what do you look like? If you really want to be my personal guards for life, then you can be my son's personal guards when he grows up. Two useless things!"

Xu An and Chen Xianba could only bury their heads even lower.

Jin Shuke spat on the ground again,

and said:

"Both of you, get up and come with me to meet the Marquis."

…

The Calabash Temple had just been repaired,

when the Marquis of Zheng's entourage set out from Fengxin City.

Subsequently,

troops from all sides began to gather toward the Marquis of Zheng's entourage.

First, the 3,000 personal troops in Fengxin City, including the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Next, Liang Cheng's 20,000 cavalrymen. These were personally trained by Liang Cheng, and were elite soldiers. The Marquis's manor gave them the best equipment and the best treatment. They were truly built up with good materials and plenty of gold and silver!

The Wild Man King's army sent 5,000 troops, mostly wild men. The core came from the wild men who crawled out of the piles of corpses after the campaign against Chu, and were personally trained by the Wild Man King. Their equipment was much worse than Liang Cheng's, but they should not be underestimated.

In addition, Ding Hao's army also sent 5,000 troops.

Gong Wang and Gongsun Zhi each led 8,000 of their own troops from their garrisons.

In total, 50,000 soldiers had gathered under the banner.

Yan produces horses, and the knights of the Three Jin Kingdoms were once famous for centuries. The snow plains also produce horses. Therefore, the 50,000 troops under the banner were all cavalry.

Moreover, they were not auxiliary soldiers, there was no rabble, and no one was there just to make up the numbers. They were truly iron cavalry!

Zu Zhuming, the governor of the Three Borders of the Qian Kingdom, scraped together Qiang cavalry from the Qian Kingdom, and combined with the dilapidated horse administration, the Three Borders only had a cavalry force of this size. Moreover, he could only directly control half of them, while the rest were held as treasures by various military leaders.

But the Marquis of Pingxi in Jin East could easily gather so many. If he gave them to Zu Zhuming, this former Grand Commandant of the East Sea would probably laugh so hard he'd blow bubbles.

And this was not all. Jin Shuke's army in Zhennan Pass could also send another 10,000 troops.

In other words, by the time they reached Zhennan Pass, the Marquis of Zheng would have 60,000 iron cavalry at his command.

In addition, 10,000 auxiliary soldiers and 50,000 laborers were conscripted. At the same time, Xuehai Pass and Zhennan Pass would also send laborers and auxiliary soldiers to support the front lines.

The wild man troops transferred into the pass, plus auxiliary soldiers, according to the initial plan, Liang Cheng and Jin Shuke would each bring 20,000, making everything complete.

In any case, it was necessary to ensure that there were 60,000 elite soldiers where the Marquis of Zheng was stationed, because that was the real key to victory.

The core of the entire strategy was four words... Tian Ji's horse race (a strategy of using one's best to defeat the enemy's worst).

Gou Moli looked at the surrounding banners and listened to the thunder of hooves, but he didn't feel much excitement.

He knew that although this wasn't all the family's assets, it was close to scraping the bottom of the barrel.

If they won, it would be fine, but if something went wrong with the war and it didn't develop as expected, all the hard work they had accumulated could be reduced to ashes.

Others sell their grandfather's fields without heartache, but his master really doesn't take the family business he built up with his own hands seriously.

He doesn't feel bad,

but I, Gou Moli, do...

As for the Marquis of Pingxi himself,

riding on the Pixiu,

he felt completely comfortable.

After silently farming and developing for so long, he could finally show off his family's assets.

What national peace and prosperity, what peaceful and prosperous lives for the people of both countries, what war leading to the suffering of the people,

if he couldn't show off the knife he had sharpened, and cut people, he would feel憋得慌 (be suffocating)!

The rise and fall of the world, what does it have to do with me, Zheng Fan?

Back then, when I was drafted as a laborer in Tiger Head City and almost lost my life in the desert, it was Liang Cheng and Xue San who saved me. Where were the people of the world then?

In addition, this expedition was different from the one on the snow plains. The devils all followed.

Tian Tian, Zheng Fan didn't bring, but instead told him to protect his pregnant second wife at home.

The Marquis of Zheng also promised the princess that he would return before she gave birth.

Xiong Liqing was a woman who could elope with the Marquis of Zheng on her wedding day. At first, she was a little shocked, but she quickly adjusted and didn't cry and worry about her motherland. Instead, she curiously asked her husband if he could invade Yingdu again this time?

After receiving Zheng Fan's negative answer, the princess was a little disappointed.

In her early years, the princess had a simple admiration for her royal brother, the Regent of Great Chu;

but as she married a chicken and followed a chicken, married a dog and followed a dog, the things and thoughts of her youth had long been taken away by youth.

She had also realized the ruthlessness of her royal brother regarding the matter of Song Que Dan.

By the same token,

only after Great Chu was truly destroyed could her status as a former princess and current Marchioness of Pingxi be truly legitimized. This was a war between her man and her royal brother, and also a war between her and her royal brother for the orthodox position of Chu.

The one who wins, their bloodline is truly noble!

Finally,

the army arrived at the Zhennan Pass range.

The various units began to set up camp, and the necessary supplies began to be counted. The scribes were so busy that their feet were barely touching the ground.

The Marquis of Pingxi was the personally taught disciple of the Prince of Jingnan, almost taught by Old Tian how to fight a war. Therefore, when the Marquis of Pingxi led the army as the commander, he naturally inherited the style of Prince Jingnan when commanding the Jingnan Army, grasping the minutiae of the entire army.

From the beginning of the march, he had been constantly reviewing military reports. By the time the commander's tent was set up, various situations from all units were summarized according to requirements, and the pile of reports on the Marquis of Zheng's desk directly formed a small mountain.

And after setting up the commander's tent, the first thing to do was to gather the generals!

This was to unify the hearts and minds and establish the authority of the commander.

In fact, for the Marquis of Zheng, it was just a formality. After all, among the troops gathered this time, excluding the wild man auxiliary troops, there were basically no guest troops.

Differences in closeness and distance, and between direct and non-direct descendants, existed, but they were all troops under the rule of his Pingxi Marquis's manor, and they were all his, Zheng Fan's, troops and generals.

"Wuwuwu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The sound of the horn sounded,

all the soldiers of the Central Army stood solemnly.

Led by Liang Cheng, the various commanding generals and guerrilla generals entered the commander's tent in formation. After entering the tent, they stood on both sides, knelt down at the same time, and said in unison:

"This humble general pays respects to the Marquis!"

"This humble general pays respects to the Marquis!"

The Marquis of Zheng sat on the commander's seat, not getting up to greet them, nor exchanging pleasantries.

He simply raised his hand casually,

and said:

"Rise."

"Thank you, Marquis!"

"Thank you, Marquis!"

Perhaps it was a coincidence, but a personal guard came in to report:

"Marquis, the imperial edict has arrived!"

Before sending out the troops, Zheng Fan had the blind man send a memorial to the imperial court in the name of the Marquis's manor. Considering the distance, the reply... oh no, the imperial edict had finally arrived.

This was not arranged by Zheng Fan,

he himself immediately laughed:

"Oh, this Marquis had forgotten about the imperial edict, haha."

These were rebellious words,

unfilial,

disregarding the imperial court,

arrogant,

despising the Emperor,

lawless!

The censors in the imperial court could criticize this for three days and three nights without repeating themselves.

But when the Marquis of Zheng casually said these words,

all the generals in the commander's tent burst out laughing.

What are arrogant and brave generals?

This,

is it!

Why was Xiao Liuzi willing to hold Zheng Fan's hand in the Yan capital palace and let him sit on the dragon throne to feel it?

Was it really generosity?

No,

it was because he, Zheng, had the qualification!

Where did the qualification lie?

Not in what the Marquis of Zheng often said, that he would simply join the Jianghu and open a new Dragon Gate Inn;

but in the present,

in this moment,

in the iron cavalry and elite soldiers gathered around the commander's tent!

Without informing,

I thought I could attack Chu, so I attacked.

The troops are my troops, the grain is my grain, the auxiliary troops are recruited by me, and the laborers are conscripted by me;

I have completed all preparations, and the army has marched to Zhennan Pass before the imperial edict arrived.

This also meant that,

if the Marquis of Pingxi wanted to attack Chu today, he would;

if he wanted to follow suit tomorrow and lead his troops across the Wangjiang River to attack Yingdu to the west, then he would.

Background, qualification,

from the day Ji Lao Liu became Emperor, the Marquis of Zheng had been warning himself in his heart not to be naive and think that so-called affection could bind an Emperor. Throughout history, people with this kind of naive thinking had died miserably.

To deal with the Emperor, you must have the confidence to kick over his dragon throne and shake his Ji family's dynasty, then you can truly be long-lasting and comfortable.

The one who came to announce the decree was Eunuch Huang.

Yes, it was Eunuch Huang again.

He had almost monopolized all the tasks of announcing decrees to the commanding generals in Jin in recent years. Earlier, it was to Prince Jingnan, and now, it was to the Marquis of Pingxi.

Eunuch Huang entered the commander's tent, covered in dust. He had galloped all the way to Fengxin City, only to find out that the Marquis had already set off. He had no choice but to chase after him to Zhennan Pass.

Fortunately, Eunuch Huang was also used to it.

The decree-announcing eunuch held the imperial edict and entered the commander's tent,

but the Marquis of Zheng still didn't get up.

He had already received countless graces from the new Emperor. He remembered most clearly that in the future, he didn't have to kneel when he met His Majesty. The reason was still found by Ji Lao Liu for him. Because of fighting, his knees were bad, so he was considerate.

Ordinary people would not dare not to kneel even with this grace, but the Marquis of Zheng just didn't like to kneel.

The Marquis of Zheng didn't get up, so none of the generals in the commander's tent responded.

Eunuch Huang held the imperial edict, standing in the center, so embarrassed that his toes were digging into the ground through his boots.

He didn't dare to get angry,

precisely because he was the Emperor's slave, so he knew the relationship between this Marquis and the new Emperor.

Moreover, the stone lions in front of the Old Prince Jingnan's manor in Licheng were still standing there. The one in front of him was truly a direct descendant of the Prince of Jingnan back then!

Therefore, Eunuch Huang could only look at the Marquis of Zheng with pleading eyes.

The Marquis of Zheng shook his head,

looked down,

and said:

"What are you all standing there for? Receive the decree."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

The generals first answered their own Marquis in unison, then knelt down again:

"Long live the Emperor! Long live! Long long live!"

The Marquis of Zheng, sitting behind the commander's table, just leaned back slightly.

"By imperial order of the Emperor who has received the Mandate of Heaven..."

The content of the imperial edict was very official.

First, it condemned the Chu army for provoking, encroaching on the border, and plundering and killing our border residents;

well, of course, this was unfounded. The Chu people had shrunk their balls to the point of letting the people smash the ice. But in any case, fighting a war must be justified.

Finally, His Majesty issued a decree, ordering Zheng Fan, the Marquis of Pingxi of Great Yan, to raise the royal army and attack the Chu people who had broken their alliance.

After reading these, Eunuch Huang was a little embarrassed.

Damn it,

the imperial edict approving the dispatch of troops hadn't even been issued, but the army had already gathered at Zhennan Pass.

But he didn't dare to say anything, and he didn't dare to ask anything. After announcing the decree, he took the initiative to place the imperial edict on the commander's table.

"Eunuch Huang has worked hard, stay in the army for a few more days as a supervisor."

"Thank you, Marquis!"

Eunuch Huang was overjoyed. This was giving him military功劳 (merit)! Wei Zhonghe was still favored now, and Eunuch Zhang, who had followed him from the hidden residence, would inevitably rise to power in the future, but did they have military merit?

Of course, he didn't dare to supervise.

The Marquis of Zheng didn't give any instructions,

but directly ordered:

"Everyone must be hungry, serve the meal."

The meal was cornbread.

Because of the decree announcement, there was some delay. The weather outside the tent was cold and windy, and the cornbread, which was originally a little hot, had become hard by the time the personal guards brought it in.

Everyone had a share, including Eunuch Huang.

Hot water was being boiled inside the tent.

The Marquis of Zheng picked up the cornbread, took a big bite, and swallowed it with hot water.

The other generals in the tent did the same. No one dared to complain that the cornbread was unpalatable or difficult to swallow.

This scene was familiar.

After everyone had eaten two cornbread, the Marquis of Zheng reached out and stroked his chest a few times, saying:

"Difficult to swallow, right?"

The generals were silent.

"This Marquis, I think it's really damn hard to eat. To be honest, this Marquis's stomach is very delicate, tsk tsk."

"Hehe..."

"Hehehe..."

The generals laughed together.

At this time,

the Marquis of Zheng's face gradually became serious.

The atmosphere in the commander's tent suddenly became heavy. All the generals, including Eunuch Huang, felt a tightening in their backs and stood up straight.

"Eat some coarse grains first, to scrape the grease from your stomachs;

when you get to the battlefield,

give this Marquis a big, bold eat!"

The Marquis of Zheng stood up,

his eyes swept over the generals below,

and shouted:

"Envy the century-long foundation of the Marquis of Zhenbei's manor? Envy the century-long wealth and glory of the generations of family generals?

Now,

the opportunity,

is right in front of you!"

The Marquis of Zheng drew out the Wuya Saber,

and directly stabbed it into the frozen earth in front of him,

roaring:

"The century-long wealth and glory of my Pingxi Marquis's manor,

begins with this battle!"

Immediately,

everyone in the commander's tent knelt down,

and shouted in unison:

"We are willing to die for the Marquis!"