Chapter 44 Offsetting Merits and Demerits?

In the evening, Su Wu and the old man Yu Yiba returned with a full load, they were so lucky today, they shot a deer and two rabbits and bears to carry them, and the two of them also carried back two large bales of hay, enough for people and livestock to eat for a few days.

Mei Ga boiled a pot of venison, served two large bowls of soup and meat to Su Wu and Old Man Yu Yiba, and brought a bowl of soup into the house by herself. Although the newly built stove room is very tight, the soles of the feet are still unbearably cold.

The fire pit in the room was much warmer, and she sat on the couch drinking soup, and she didn't feel very hungry without going out or doing heavy work.

The moonlight was sprinkled on the ground like silver, and the silent night of the Northland was not too cold. The hills, the woods, and the blackened ground that had cleared the snow in the distance became hazy and mysterious.

Su Wu came out after eating, standing in the moonlight facing south, he calculated the time, it was the beginning of summer in Chang'an.

At this time last year, he was still in Chang'an, and he was drinking poems and drinking in a wine shop with his friends, but now he has become a prisoner of the Xiongnu and has been exiled to this extremely cold barren land. Alas, life is really impermanent!

He thought of his wife, his wife, and his family...... I couldn't help but burst into tears.

Mei Ga went out to see it, came over and stood beside him and said, "Brother Su, it's cold outside!"

He didn't look at her or speak, but turned back and went into his house.

Strange, what's wrong with him? Mei Ga followed him in and pushed the door open. She took out a fire sickle, lit a fire, lit a candle made of animal oil by the old man in Eba and asked, "Brother Su, what's wrong with you?"

"No, nothing?" he replied, turning his back.

"We don't have to worry about life! I have a solution, which is to stop delivering food

Food, we can also live. Mei Ga happily.

He had already suppressed his tears, turned around and asked, "What's the solution, tell me about it." ”

When she told him about the two families she had met on the way and about the treatment she had given to Battle's mother, who was now pregnant, she said, "We may give the shepherds a doctor, in exchange for food." ”

"That's a solution, but there's no one around!"

"There is an abundance of water and grass here, and it won't be long before shepherds come. She added, "Now that we have horses, we can leave Uncle Iba to take care of them at home, and the two of us can go out to see people and livestock." ”

"Yes, yes, but I'm a Han Chinese, and I'm an exiled prisoner!, and I don't know anything about medicine!" he worried.

Besides, I'm not here to find you, let's live together, it's far away from the capital, and even far away from Chang'an, who can manage it!" she looked at him with affection.

"You and I, this is not good! I have a family and a son in Chang'an. He refused.

"We Hu people don't care about that, and I don't care either!" she said resolutely.

"I'm going back to Chang'an! I can't delay you!"

"You want to go back to Chang'an, I'll go with you!" she said, "You know, my mother is also Han, and I just want to go back to Dahan!" Mei Ga said, sitting next to him.

"So—what if I don't let you go?"

"I don't regret it! I'll live here with our children!" Mei Ga burst into tears, "I, I, I don't want my children to be Hu!"

She took his hand: "Brother Su, you will fulfill me! I will come to you thousands of miles away, let's, let's live together!"

She threw herself into his arms and cried.

Listening to her words, Su Wu felt uncomfortable in his heart. She's a good woman, a good woman with opinions. But I have a heavy responsibility, no!

He pushed her away and got up and said, "I have to think about this, you have to think about it too, we both have to think about it, and we'll talk about it later!"

"You stay here tonight, I'll go over!" he stepped out and gently closed the door.

She thought for a moment, opened the door and followed him out, and followed him into her house.

"Why did you come back with you?"

"Go to your house!" she bowed her head and pushed him out of the door, closed the door and lay down on the couch, crying aggrievedly.

Su Wu didn't leave at that time, and when he heard the crying in the house, he also shed tears. But I really can't! He hurried into his house.

Gongsun Ao led the holy order to the border pass for an unannounced visit, he visited the soldiers of the Li Ling Department who had broken through the siege, and learned that Li Ling sent troops this time, without any reinforcements, and was a lone army. He led 5,000 infantry and wiped out more than 30,000 cavalry of the 80,000 soldiers led by Shan Yu.

He resisted the enemy with weakness, pinned down the main force of the Xiongnu, avoided the pressure of Li Guangli's army in Hexi, and also avoided the disaster of the people on the border of Hexi.

Gongsun Ao thought, the emperor asked me to verify Li Ling's life and death, Li Lingbu said that he broke through alive, some people said that he died, this is not alive to see the dead and the corpse, it is really difficult to verify.

He knew that on the border between the Han and the Xiongnu, after countless tug-of-war between the two sides over the past hundred years, years of relaxation and several years of conquest relations, as well as the resettlement of immigrants, the people of the Han and Xiongnu on the border have already had me and I have you.

News from both sides has its own secret informants passing on. Through an informant's visit, Gongsun Ao found out that Li Ling was still alive and was now helping the Xiongnu train troops. Although this news is very unexpected, it can only be like this.

He should have truthfully told the emperor what he had learned, but Li Guangli, the general who went out on the expedition in Xihe, was the brother of Li Niangniang, the emperor's favorite concubine, and he couldn't be offended.

He thought about it again and again, but he just downplayed the matter of Li Ling's lone army going deep into annihilating more than 30,000 horsemen of the enemy, and emphasized the fact that Li Ling was alive to help the Huns train their troops.

Emperor Wu was very angry when he saw the secret music, and when the military officials in the palace learned that Li Ling surrendered to the Xiongnu, they discussed it one after another.

Sima Qian lowered his head and thought, there must be something strange in this matter, Li Ling will not surrender, he must have ideas and achievements.

Emperor Wu asked Sima Qian expressionlessly: "Sima Aiqing, what do you think about Li Ling's surrender to the Xiongnu?"

Sima Qian immediately knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty: Weichen thinks that General Li Ling, the cavalry captain, with 5,000 soldiers, went deep into the territory of the Xiongnu alone, resisted the enemy head-on, and eliminated more than 30,000 of the 80,000 cavalry led by the Xiongnu Shan Yu. ”

Sima Qian didn't hear anyone refute, and continued: "The five thousand cavalry captains restrained the main force of the Xiongnu, avoided the pressure of General Li of the West River, and also avoided the disaster of the people on the border of the West River. This is a weak attack on the strong, and the merit outweighs the fault. I beg Your Majesty to be cautious and think twice!"

"You say I'm not cautious about this?" Emperor Wu asked him with a glare.

Sima Qian didn't raise his head, but as a historian, he couldn't lie when others lied.

Therefore, although he said: "Your Majesty, Li Ling only has 5,000 soldiers, and after being surrounded, there are only 500 capable warriors left, with no food or drink, no arrows, and no reinforcements. Even if it fails, it is worth the merits!"