The sun sets.
The inner residence of the Champion Marquis.
Bai Nanyu was wearing a plain Chinese dress hanging behind her, and the crape myrtle on the hem was in full bloom. The shiny black hair is tied behind her head, with a little hair hanging on the side of her neck, and her kneeling figure rises and falls.
The central hall of the Hou Mansion has an all-wooden floor. The back of the low mat was covered with kneeling cattails embroidered with lotus patterns, so after sitting down, Bai Nanyu and Zhuo Qingke took off their shoes, and two pairs of feet in pure white stockings loomed under their skirts.
Zhuo Qingke wears a moon-white coat and a milky white and pink satin skirt, which complements her youthful girlish temperament.
The three women were sitting together, and even the room seemed to be filled with a bright color.
After Huo Qubing took his seat at the head of the table, Her Royal Highness the Princess also changed from the standing seat next to him and sat next to him.
Liu Qing usually wouldn't be so clingy in front of outsiders, but it was a little different today.
"The night before yesterday, if Qing Ke hadn't happened to be in my room, I might not have been spared.
When my father-in-law was kidnapped, I heard some noise and went out, but the other person quickly retreated. I was worried about Qing Ke, so I pursued him a moment later, but there was no trace of him. "
Bai Nanyu said softly:
"When I turned back and returned to the house, the other party actually had a second wave of men, who came to rob Qing Ke again. I happened to intercept him when I returned. One of the people on the other side got away after I slapped him in the face."
"My father hasn't come back yet..."
Zhuo Qingke muttered something in a low voice and peeked at Huo Qubing.
Her eyes were red and swollen, and she only hoped that what she had experienced over the past two days was a nightmare.
Even my best friend Bai Nanyu seemed to have become a stranger since the night before.
Bai Nanyu's sudden burst of skill and ghostly movements shocked her as much as someone suddenly breaking into the house and kidnapping her father.
There has been no news from Zhuo Huai so far, and it is completely beyond her ability.
Being at a loss what to do and feeling uncertain about his father's disappearance, seventeen-year-old Zhuo Qingke was at a loss and almost despairing.
"The other party is from Zonghengdao?"
"yes"
Bai Nanyu said firmly.
Huo Qubing thought that since it was a vertical and horizontal road, catching Zhuo Huai was obviously to lure Bai Nanyu to chase him, and he would most likely kill Zhuo Huai afterwards.
"What did you find when you fought with the opponent?"
"I took the opportunity to move some hands and feet in the opponent's shadow and sensed that they were leaving Chang'an and heading west."
Bai Nanyu: "I came here to ask Huo Hou to help settle Qingke.
It's best to mobilize the power of Xiu Yi and chase the murderer with me. The father-in-law... there is still a glimmer of hope after all. "
Huo Qubing said: "I will ask Cao Qiao, the deputy secretary of Xiuyi, to personally bring people to assist you. As for Zhuo Qingke, he can still live at Xiuyi Song Ran's place..."
Bai Nanyu glanced at Zhuo Qingke and begged, "Can Qingke stay in the Marquis's house?"
Zhuo Qingke gathered up his courage and raised his red and swollen eyes to take a quick look at Huo Qubing.
She obviously also wanted to stay in the Hou Mansion. Living closer to Huo Qubing would make her feel more at ease, but she didn't dare to say it.
"I'll be sick and go on an expedition in a few days. It'll be good if there are more people at home." Liu Qing said.
Bai Nanyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Qing asked the maid beside him to take Zhuo Qingke to choose a courtyard.
When Zhuo Qingke went out, Liu Qing tilted his head to look at Bai Nanyu and asked, "Qu Bing will go on another expedition soon. Will you go after the people who kidnapped Zhuo Huai, or will you go out with Qu Bing?"
Bai Nanyu lowered her eyebrows and said submissively, "If Marquis Huo hadn't ordered me, I would have gone to trace the traces of my father-in-law."
Huo Qubing expressed his position: "You go find Zhuo Huai, I will ask Xiu Yi to cooperate with you."
Liu Qing raised the corner of his mouth.
She could tolerate the non-threatening Zhuo Qingke.
But Bai Nanyu was a vixen, which made Liu Qing inexplicably unhappy and planned to keep this vixen away from her husband.
Bai Nanyu stood up from the low seat and first offered a gift to Liu Qing. Then it was Huo Qubing's turn: "If the Marquis and Princess have no other instructions, I will go."
Seeing Huo Qubing nodding in agreement, he walked away lightly.
…
"Husband, do you have other ideas for taking Bai Nanyu under your command?"
At night, Liu Qing asked as the couple chatted on the couch in the dormitory.
Huo Qubing made a pun and said teasingly: "Your Highness, don't worry, she is not older than you. I don't like the younger ones."
Liu Qing chuckled and said, "So you like Roshna?"
Roshna is from the Western Regions, which is different from the Han people, so she is even more ambitious than Her Royal Highness the Princess, while Bai Nanyu is slightly less ambitious than Liu Qing.
Zhuo Qingke is not as good as Bai Nanyu. It's roughly the order of D+, D, C, and B.
Late March.
Noon, the emperor's study.
Liu Che, Wei Qing who came back from Beiguan, Huo Qubing, Li Cai, Zhang Tang, Dong Zhongshu and other civil and military officials were present in turn.
Everyone was looking at the topographic map of the Han territory and its surrounding tribes hanging on the wall.
There are multiple red lines and black lines marked on the map, which are used to deduce and judge the routes that the Han and Hungarian sides may take in the war.
"The Xiongnu will definitely fight on two fronts in this battle. They have already launched an offensive from the western front to the Western Region."
Li Cai also fought with Wei Qing and knew military affairs, saying:
“The Huns want to lure our army to fight in the northwest.
Along the way to the west, Loulan, Pulei and other countries firmly control the main routes in and out of the Western Regions, and the terrain is more favorable to them. "
Wei Qing: "You will not be willing to just suppress our army on the western front. He will have other plans, at least two simultaneous fronts, making it impossible for me to take care of both."
The emperor pondered for a moment and said: "In this case, I will issue an edict to lead the troops to go out to attack the Xiongnu.
Wei Qing stayed behind and took control of the entire army to deal with the possible Xiongnu offensive. "
Everyone accepted the order in unison.
"The day after tomorrow is an auspicious time. I will worship my ancestors in the ancestral temple, tell heaven and earth, go to the altar to worship the generals to cure the disease, and raise troops to defeat the Huns."
After everyone dispersed, Huo Qubing took his uncle Wei Qing to the main hall of the Wei Army.
Ru Bohu has been waiting here in advance, and many generals of the guard are also there.
"The Huns still have a group of soldiers and horses, and they are hiding their tracks now, but I judge that they may attack our Han counties from the east, or even use sea ships to bypass the border and surprise the counties along the Bohai Sea. My uncle must be on guard."
Huo Qubing and Ru Bohu took turns talking about their findings in Yan Jiao and their judgment of the subsequent situation.
Huo Qubing and Wei Qing unfolded the map, and the nephew and uncle unreservedly rehearsed how to cooperate and the situation after the war started.
————
Huns, Ulaanbaatar.
The wind howled.
Below the high ground, there are hundreds of Xiongnu tribes, with their flags waving and their armies stretching out.
The flags of these Xiongnu tribes are respectively painted with wolf heads, eagles, and some depict scarlet shamanic incantations, fluttering in the wind.
The cavalrymen of each department were riding proudly on their horses, so everyone was ready to go to war.
The Xiongnu soldiers and horses gathered together, murderous and fighting spirit blended.
On the grasslands around Ulaanbaatar, cattle and sheep did not dare to roar, while gophers shivered and hid in their burrows.
Even the wolves hundreds of miles away had a strong fear of the direction where thousands of troops were gathering, and they stayed away and did not dare to get close.
And below the high ground of Ulaanbaatar, countless Huns, including women and children from various tribes, were looking up at the royal tent with feverish eyes.
There were not only great shamans and Chanyu Yizhixie there, but also the divine general Yudu who once led the grassland tribes to attack the city and plunder the land!
His figure is majestic, especially thick and strong, like a majestic peak in the sky. He stands on the high ground with his hands behind his hands, and his long hair is shawl.
Yi Zhi looked down at the hundreds of soldiers and horses below, frowning secretly.
Just because Zhuodu appeared, tens of thousands of Xiongnu tribes below stood down from their horses, knelt down and kowtowed, as if they were meeting gods.
This is a treatment that even a great chanyu like him has never received.
On the high platform on one side, the great shaman's face was painted with bright red blood-colored sacrificial inscriptions, and he wore a feather crown on his head. He held a leather drum in his forehand and beat it gently.
With his bare feet facing the people below him, he whispered shamanic rituals, his steps were weird like dancing, and he struck the drum head with one hand from time to time, performing the shaman's unique military sacrificial ritual.
Suddenly, there was a strong wind.
The great shaman's voice suddenly became louder, and amid the strange incantations, the entire altar was enveloped in a black energy.
And the black energy slowly gathered into a hazy figure about ten feet tall.
The great shaman slaughtered cattle, sheep, eagles, and wolves respectively, and offered blood as a sacrifice.
The strange thing is that when the blood of an eagle is sprinkled, wings sprout from the back of the black shadow; when the blood of cattle and sheep is sprinkled, its figure slowly grows taller; when the blood of wolves is sprinkled, a pack of wolves appears under its feet. For their motivation.
The whole process was weird and unspeakably terrifying.
The great shaman suddenly shook the leather drum in his hand and shouted loudly!
Boom--boom!
The sound of drums shook the grassland, and the hazy figure suddenly turned into a black storm, sweeping into the thousands of troops below.
“The battle must be won!
The battle must be won!
The battle must be won! "
The soldiers and horses from all the Xiongnu tribes gathered together, shouting like the mountains were shaking and the earth was shaking.
"Yudu, how are you going to fight this battle?" Yi Zhi asked sidely.
"We will decide based on how the Han people respond. There is no need to make unnecessary deliberations in advance."
Yudu's voice was strong and sweet, full of determination.
Viewed from the side, his face looks like it has been carved with a knife, giving him an unshakable and tough look like a sculpture.
Yi Zhi said obliquely: "The Han general Huo Qubing is the best at attacking. If he comes to attack our rear from a long distance again, are you prepared? How should you deal with it?"
Yudu said calmly: "I can't guess their marching route, because the battlefield is vast and there are many ways to march.
If you make rash inferences, you will only be controlled at every step, lose all initiative, and be led by others. "
He added: "But even though I can't guess their marching route, they also won't think of my arrangement."
At this time, the trumpet sounded from below, and all the Xiongnu tribes joined forces. More than 150,000 elite troops turned their horses' heads and galloped away.
Youdu glanced at the various ministries that were raising troops like a tide, and said, "Did you ask Luo Tingjian to lead troops to join the battle?"
Luotanjian is Yi Zhixie's biological son, and he is only twenty-one years old this year.
He was not close to Yi Zhixie and his son. Instead, he admired Youdu very much and took him as his teacher when he was young.
In these years, Luotangjian has been staying in the Lan clan of his matrilineal clan and rarely comes to the royal court of the Huns.
Yi Zhixian said: "He asked to go there himself. The warriors of our grassland tribes can only grow up in the flames of war.
It is a good thing that he is willing to go to the battlefield, and he is worthy of being my son, Yi Zhixie. "
"Okay, just wait for my news."
You didn't see any movement, but disappeared suddenly.
Immediately, at the end of the sight of Yi Zhixie and others, in front of the marching army, a majestic figure of Yudu appeared on a huge black horse.
Yi Zhixie's pupils shrank for a moment.
He couldn't see clearly the speed and manner of Yudu's movement, and he couldn't catch the slightest trace.
The ability to move hundreds of feet in an instant and appear at the end of the line of sight is even more astonishing.
In the distance, because of Yudu's appearance, the Huns behind him burst into cheers.
The Xiongnu army galloped away with murderous intent.
They firmly believed that this battle would destroy all resistance of the Han army and revive the myth that the Xiongnu were invincible across the grasslands!
…
March 26th.
In the early morning, on the side of Weiyang Palace, there is the ancestral temple of the Liu clan.
The ancestral temple is the place where emperor Gaozu and the ancestors of the Liu family of all dynasties are worshiped.
All the ministers and clan members arrived, and there were many imperial guards. The scene was solemn.
The emperor and the empress had started taking baths and observing precepts a few days ago, and they arrived in their best attire in the early morning of this day.
Going on stage to pay homage to a general is a national ceremony and one of the most glorious moments in a general's life.
Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, the monarch has paid homage to a general in person only four times: Huaiyin Hou Han Xin, Tiao Hou Zhou Yafu, Changping Hou Wei Qing, and now the champion Hou Huo Qubing.
There are hundreds of officials and relatives accompanying them.
The chime bells of Qingyue were struck and the sound was heard, shaking Chang'an.
This is the etiquette of worshiping generals passed down from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Every step must be paid attention to, and no arrogance should be allowed.
Liu Che looked solemn and majestic as he walked out of the main hall of the ancestral temple and came outside the hall. He looked at Huo Qubing in military uniform in front of the ministers.
"I heard that the Xiongnu gathered all the troops under their command and sent out troops to force my big Han.
Now that the Xiongnu army is present, I would like to order Huo Qubing, my doctor, to pay homage to the general and go out to fight. I will make a special sacrifice to heaven and earth and inform my ancestors.
Huo Qubing, I ask you to lead the army to fight against the Xiongnu. Are you willing to go? "
Huo Qubing said loudly: "I have been waiting for this moment for many years, and I am willing to go!"
The emperor and Wei Qing and Wei Zifu on the side all raised their lips.
According to the etiquette given by Taichang Zhou Ping, Huo Qubing at this time needed to speak impassionedly and at length, telling his loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, and then kowtow to express his willingness to go.
Huo Qubing changed the lyrics to just one sentence.
Liu Che waved his hand, and Jiang Yan, the great Yin Yang family, stepped forward to divine and inquire about heaven and earth.
He threw two yin and yang signs into the sky, which looked like a full moon, which meant good luck.
The time was chosen as the middle of the day today, that is, after the scorching sun rose into the sky, and the troops were officially launched.
The emperor then entered the main hall of the ancestral temple again and held the ceremony of conferring generals in front of the spiritual tablets of his ancestors.
This time Huo Qubing also entered the ancestral temple.
Emperor Liu Che stood to the east, facing the west.
Huo Qubing, on the other hand, was in the south, facing the north. This is what is meant by the so-called "professing to the north".
Liu Che held a bronze "axe" (representing the general's authority) in his hand. He took the head of the ax first, handed the handle to Huo Qubing, and said: "From now on, the one who ascends to heaven will be controlled by the general!"
This is authorization, clearly giving the general the power of life and death!
Liu Che once again took the handle of the ax in his hand, handed the blade to the general, and said: "Whoever goes down to the abyss from now on, the general will control him!"
When Blade said this to the general, he warned the general to respect himself and not abuse military power.
Liu Che then explained to the general the principles of combat as follows:
"Advance when you see weakness, stop when you see reality. Do not underestimate the enemy because of the strength of the three armies, do not consider death due to the importance of the order, do not consider yourself a noble person, do not go against the crowd because of your unique views, and do not take arguments as inevitable.
The cold and heat must be the same as those of scholars. In this case, all the scholars will do their best. "
The meaning of this passage is not to underestimate the enemy; not to advance rashly; not to hold on to your own identity and despise others; not to be stubborn; to share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers.
At this point, the initial ceremony of worship is completed.
Even the emperor had to bow to Huo Qubing to express the great trust of the country. From now on, the matter of life and death of the country would be handed over to Huo Qubing.
Huo Qubing bowed and bowed, took the ax from the emperor's hand, and said loudly:
"I heard that the country cannot be governed from the outside, and the army cannot be controlled from the inside. You cannot serve the king with two minds, and you cannot respond to the enemy with doubts.
I was ordered to hold the power of the ax and not dare to survive. I hope you will also give me a word of command. The king does not allow his ministers to serve, and the ministers dare not serve as generals. "
It means that since the emperor has given me such great power, I will never have second thoughts and will serve the country with my death. All I ask is that your majesty, if you want to authorize it, grant me full power, otherwise I will not dare to be a general.
These are all fixed routines and lines, and they have been rehearsed beforehand. After hearing this, the emperor promised to grant full power and not interfere with the military command.
So, the tribute was successful.
Afterwards, sacrifices were made to heaven and earth again, drums and music were played in unison, the ancestors were told, and the monarch and his ministers performed rituals for each other.
This ceremony is sacred and solemn, and it is one of the most solemn rituals in the Han Dynasty when going to war.
If Huo Qubing can return to the court in victory, there will be a more solemn return ceremony. The king needs to go outside the city in person to welcome the triumphal army. All the city gates in Chang'an will be opened, and the people will line the streets to welcome him!
Now that the ceremony was completed and the troops could be raised, the emperor, Huo Qubing and other important officials headed outside the city.
In the lineage of clan members, Princess Pingyang, Liu Jue, Liu Yan and others, who still looked miserable and had not yet recovered, were also there.
They all tried their best to hide in the car and looked at the young general who was surrounded by thousands of people from a distance, with mixed emotions.
Ps: Today it is still more than 9,000, the word count is more than three updates. Please vote, thank you~
(End of chapter)
