When the two of them came out of the mansion, hundreds of cavalrymen were waiting in line outside.
Judging from the dress, it is still the same as before. Half of them are wise and brave men who have been selected from various ministries and veterans who dare to fight; the other half are outstanding young men selected from the old camp. In addition, there were several new faces. Jing'anmin glanced at them and knew that they were hostages from the local wealthy families in Dengzhou and Ninghaizhou.
Regardless of their status, they must undergo rigorous training before being transferred to Guo Ning's retinue. Those who fail to meet the standards will be immediately dismissed. Therefore, at this time, more than a hundred people stood beside the horses, all of them upright and heroic. The hundreds and dozens of people were silent, except for the occasional snoring of the horses.
At a glance, a fierce killing aura rushed towards his face.
Seeing the two people coming out, the subordinates bowed together and greeted each other with a military salute: "Greetings to the commander-in-chief! Greetings to the deputy envoy!"
Guo Ning nodded slightly and strode out. Someone had already led his tall horse.
He didn't need anyone's help. He pressed the horse's back with one hand and got on the horse. Turning around to look at everyone, he saw that Jing'an people had also mounted their horses, and said in a deep voice: "Let's go."
With an order, hundreds of people roared and all got on their mounts.
There were twenty or thirty horsemen riding forward to clear the way, and twenty or thirty horsemen were behind to hold down the formation. There were twenty or thirty cavalry formations on each side to protect them. Guo Ning's horse galloped like a strong wind sweeping the ground, and he was out of the city gate in an instant, heading east.
Most of the people on both sides of the road recognized Guo Ning's cavalry. Whether they were on their way or working in the fields, they all fell to their knees. Many of them fell to the ground and banged their foreheads heavily on the ground.
When passing the school grounds in the east of the city, the soldiers lined up did not give orders and remained motionless. There were also soldiers resting nearby, a little further away. They were probably worried that Guo Ning would not be seen when he knelt down, so they jumped up and waved and cheered loudly.
Guo Ning doesn't like traveling in such a crowd. However, his Dinghai government had not long been established in Laizhou. Even though it had achieved successive military victories, many details had to be worked hard to penetrate the majesty into the hearts of ordinary people.
Strict rules and regulations are one part, and trying to protect the people to keep them warm is another part. In addition, they must let the people know who they are loyal to. Every time Guo Ning went out with great fanfare, he was clearly impressing the existence of Dinghai Jiedushi in the eyes of the military and civilians. The ancients said that there is no majesty without magnificence, and the truth is the same.
At this time, the two were traveling side by side. All the soldiers and civilians along the way saluted. Guo Ning waved to the left and right from time to time, and Jing'an people also followed suit.
Because the cavalry was moving very fast, occasionally there were pedestrians on the road who had no time to avoid them and only gave way slightly to the side of the road.
Most of the people still coming and going on the road at this time were small businessmen with some background. They were wearing fur coats and white pointed hats, riding on donkeys and mules as they passed leisurely. Seeing Guo Ning's cavalry galloping at lightning speed, they dismounted and saluted without flinching.
Guo Ning and the people of Jing'an chatted for a while along the way. At this time, they mentioned that there were originally more than 70,000 acres of land between Ye County and Daji Mountain. Later, after several land expropriations, a lot of it was abandoned.
Ding Haijun moved many people to Laizhou, but because the fields were frozen solid after winter, farm tools and cattle needed to be mobilized, so they were not able to cultivate all the acres.
"We don't have many farm tools and cattle on hand. We have been transferring a batch from Dengzhou and Ninghai Prefecture recently," Guo Ning said.
"Are Dengzhou and Ninghai Prefecture very wealthy?" Jing Anmin asked casually.
"Where... Geng Ge and Shi Poli, in order to protect their own power, put in a lot of effort and ruthless means, so that in these two places, some big families were destroyed." Guo Ning said calmly: "If they It's best if it's stable. If it's really not stable, we won't get a bad reputation if we reach out again."
"I see." Jing Anmin chuckled a few times: "Then I hope he two work harder. If they continue to work hard, we will have a lot more money."
"Geng Ge will come again tomorrow. I will host a banquet in the evening. Brother Anmin might as well tell him directly in person."
Jing Anmin laughed and pointed at Guo Ning.
He and Guo Ning had no suspicion about each other. After saying this, the unhappiness in his heart disappeared.
There was a light snowfall last night, and there were large fields with no trace of roads, which was very conspicuous.
As far as the two men could see, there was a large area of land that had been specially set aside, surrounded by high and low wooden fences. That was the ranch that Chief Ma came forward to capture.
The chief of Ma Zhengsi is Wang Kou'er. The number of troops and horses under Wang Kou'er's control has increased sharply these days. The old man complained, but in fact his face was full of joy. In addition, he will become Li Ting's subordinate in a few days. My father-in-law makes a sound like the wind when he walks.
Behind the ranch, a mountain rises from the flat ground, which is Donglai Mountain.
Guo Ning rode his horse and walked a few miles further. When he got to the front of the valley, he jumped off his horse.
The cavalry arrived with great momentum. There was an old man with a hunchback standing next to a black donkey. He stared at Guo Ning and his party in stunned silence, revealing the few teeth left in his mouth.
On top of the donkey sat a cross-legged woman, and three children, one boy, two girls, and three children. Fortunately, they were not very big, so the donkey could hold on as much as it could. The woman and three children were wearing thick clothes, but because they had traveled a long distance, there was a light layer of frost and snow on their bodies, heads and faces, making it almost impossible to see their faces.
The old man opened his mouth and asked in a solemn voice: "Is this Donglai Mountain? We are here to observe the ceremony."
"Yes, it's right here." Guo Ning said, "Old man, just come with us."
Donglai Mountain is roughly in the shape of a semi-ring, surrounded by peaks. In the middle is a deep, round and wide valley, with only a gap in the southwest, forming a natural gateway of its own. It is said that this valley has been inhabited by Taoists since ancient times. It was once a frequent visit of Huangdi Xuanyuan, and it was called "Qingyanli of Baiyun Township".
Guo Ning and others entered along the gap, and saw that the valley was densely forested, the ancient trees were towering, and there were no villages or streets. There are new graves on the open ground. They look like they have just been swept and there is no snow. There is only one building inside the valley, which is the ancestral hall for the fallen soldiers.
Guo Ning had previously ordered Lu Han to come forward and list all the family members of the soldiers who died in the war, plus a list of hundreds of soldiers and soldiers who had been lost since the establishment of the Junhe camp. Choose a place in Laizhou to enshrine this list in a temple, and hold solemn sacrifices every new year.
Later, because there were many good things extorted from the Mongolian army, the small temple originally envisioned was expanded into a large ancestral hall, and a geomantic treasure land on one side of the ancestral hall was specially set up as a cemetery for burying soldiers. Their bones.
The ancestral hall was officially opened today. The remains of a group of soldiers who had been buried in various places were chosen to be buried at this time. Therefore, many soldiers, family members and relatives came to watch the ceremony.
The old man came a little late just now, but fortunately he didn't delay things. He entered the valley and quickly found a seat where the families of the fallen soldiers were sitting, and was greeted by a protocol officer.
Guo Ning didn't believe in the Quanzhen Religion at all, so he came a little later. Now I saw Lu Han in front of the ancestral hall, accompanying an old Taoist with white beard and hair. In the middle of winter, this old man was wearing only single clothes and bare feet. He was a little weird, but his eyes were very kind.
In front of the ancestral hall, almost all senior military officers, including Monk Luo, Li Ting, Han Xuan, Qiu Huiluo and others, stood in formal military uniforms.
"My Healing Game"
Behind them was the area for the families of the fallen soldiers. Standing on both sides of the families were a hundred soldiers holding various military flags, and behind them were hundreds of soldiers watching the ceremony.
When the people in the ancestral hall held out the remains of the soldiers, all the flags tilted forward.
The officers saluted solemnly, including Guo Ning and Jing Anmin.
The family members burst into tears instantly.
Some people went up helplessly and wanted to help the generals in the army: "I don't dare to be a lieutenant, I don't dare to be a lieutenant."
"It's always been like this when you're a soldier, you eat food and you die in battle. We all know that you, gentlemen, should stop saluting!"
More people were crying as they went up to take the wooden box containing the remains of their family members. The name of the deceased was written in large characters on the box, making it unmistakable.
Not far from Guo Ning, the old man stepped back slightly and stood outside the crowd. The woman and three children who came with him stepped forward and picked up a wooden box.
"Dog..." The woman touched the box, tears streaming down her face, but she didn't know what to say. The older boy next to him became a little more sensible. He kowtowed with his two younger sisters and said loudly: "Dad, we have land again, and we have a cow! I call it Da Niu. Da Niu is very big." Sensible and very strong!"
At this time, a protocol officer came over: "Commander Jie, please come here."
Guo Ning followed him and took a shortcut to the cemetery.
There are already hundreds of tombs in the cemetery, but there is still plenty of open space to accommodate many people.
Family members, surrounded by soldiers holding flags, walked to the cemetery carrying the remains.
Lu Han was by Guo Ning's side, introducing him to the names and deeds of each of the soldiers who died in the war. There were about a hundred soldiers buried today, and luckily Lu Han remembered them all.
Guo Ning nodded to his family members and told them, thank you for your son or your husband. I, Guo Ning of Changzhou, will remember their heroic fighting deeds. When our navy is here for one day, we will never miss the sacrifices of the soldiers, and we will never let them suffer under the Jiuquan.
There was no extra sound at the scene. People were crying silently, even the soldiers watching the ceremony behind were crying. At this time, some people even felt that people would suffer every year for the rest of their lives. If they could get such words from the coach, even if they died in battle, it would not be a loss.
As the family members slowly placed the remains into the grave, Guo Ning came up again from behind.
This time, he was followed by soldiers carrying pension money and silk, and on the plates containing the money they held, there was an extra dagger.
Guo Ning handed over the pension money and silk to the family members, which was naturally very generous. He then handed the daggers to the family members one by one and took care of them one by one.
"Xu Gou'er died fighting for Ding Haijun and for the people of Shandong. He is a hero."
Standing in front of the woman with three children, Guo Ning said in a deep voice: "If you are wronged, bullied, or have any difficulties in life, take this dagger and go find a place." Officials, ask for their help. If local officials can’t solve it, come to me!”
Xu Gouer's wife wanted to kneel down, but Guo Ning helped her up.
Outside the valley, people gathered at some unknown time.
After all, the battle was huge, and people from surrounding pastures and farms came to watch the fun. There was some noise at first, and the soldiers had to go over to stop it. Some people even laughed when they saw tears on their faces. At this time, the people were suddenly shocked by the atmosphere. They all fell silent.
When Guo Ning bowed to the tomb in the cemetery, everyone bowed down.
