After the implementation of the military lord system, the city of White Horse is even more prosperous, the daily training of soldiers is in full swing, Wan Yankang is trying to show his strength and make a difference, but the reality is often unsatisfactory.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor summoned and said: King Zhao Shizikang, brave and unbeatable, meritorious in defending the land, giving ten thousand taels of gold, ten buckets of beautiful jade, and ordering to return to Beijing to recount the merits, and another reward, Qin this!"

After the grand eunuch Ma Kubo who came from the capital read out the holy decree, Wan Yankang got up, accepted the holy decree with a smile, and then instructed his subordinates to entertain the angels.

Ma Kubo did not leave with his subordinates, congratulated him twice without smiling, and then arched his hand and said: "The saint misses the prince day and night, and hopes that the prince will return to Beijing with the old slave as soon as possible!" ”

Wan Yankang nodded: "I can't wait to fly back to Zhongdu immediately to meet the emperor's grandfather, and after I have a little explanation, I will return to Beijing with Ma Gonggong." With that, he got up and went to discuss with Xu Daosheng.

"Zhongdu reacted so quickly, it is indeed beyond expectations!" After reading the holy decree, Xu Daosheng paced back and forth in the room, slightly anxious.

After the promulgation of the military lord system in White Horse City, although Xu Daosheng expected that the center would react, he did not expect the holy decree to come so quickly. Based on Xu Daosheng's understanding of the old emperor, in recent years, he has only cared about grinding with Li Shi'er, and most of his political affairs have been deserted, and he is not enough to alarm Yan Jing about the trivial matters in border places such as White Horse City.

How do you know that it has only been half a month, and only a few days after the injury on Yan Kang's buttocks has healed, the will to summon him back to Beijing has been transmitted.

"It seems that King Yan is already impatient!" Wan Yankang sneered.

"Why don't you call yourself sick for the time being?" Xu Daosheng thought about it and felt that it was better to delay this matter.

Wan Yankang shook his head: "Everything can be done again, when I was in Zhongdu before, I avoided it on the grounds of border troubles, if I call it sick again this time, this level will never be passed." ”

"Outside the general, the military order is not subject to ......"

Wan Yankang shook his head and said, "If I don't return to Beijing according to the order, I will put my father on the fire and roast it!" ”

The original White Horse City, in the eyes of the nobles of the Central Capital, was just a child's plaything. On the bright side, this small city can still be used as a shield for Dajin, even if it is destroyed by the barbarians on the grassland, there is no pity.

After winning the battle with Tamu and other tribes before, White Horse City has more than 10,000 elite soldiers, and it seems to be a force that Dajin cannot ignore. If this power is in the hands of an outsider wearing the surname of the Wanyan family, it is absolutely unacceptable to the old emperor.

The doubt about Wanyan Kang's identity has not been dispelled for a day, and Wanyan Honglie's situation will be even more difficult!

In addition to worrying about Wan Yan Honglie's location, Wan Yan Kang also has a layer of concerns: the rise of White Horse City is inseparable from the support of Gyeongju Prefecture and Zhongdu, and horses, cattle and sheep are all available on the grassland. However, food, armor, arrows and other materials are inseparable from a stable rear.

It is foreseeable that if Yan Kang does not return this time, White Horse City will definitely become a lonely city, and it will be difficult to get the slightest support from the south. Although he had already planned ahead, the Craftsman Battalion was now self-sufficient, and the supply of armor in the city was no longer a problem.

But if White Horse City is completely blocked by the Central Capital, I am afraid that this north-south trade route will be cut off......

After Yan Kang had made up his mind, he summoned the city Chinese martial arts, saying that he wanted to return to Beijing to make meritorious contributions, and the major affairs of White Horse City were still decided by Xu Daosheng.

Everyone agreed, and Wan Yankang specially explained to Ouhua, asking him to recruit more craftsmen to expand the craftsman camp and hoard various strategic materials in case of emergency.

Early the next morning, Wan Yankang ordered Juezhi and Juehui to lead a platoon of soldiers and horses from their headquarters, carrying a longbow, a scimitar with a belt, and two horses for one person, to prepare to return to Beijing as soon as possible.

Ma Kubo originally thought that Wanyankang would have to delay for time, and he had to urge him again and again, but he didn't know that he had arranged it early in the morning and was in a hurry to get on the road.

Some rumors in Beijing don't seem to be credible, Ma Kubo thought silently.

The old eunuch's eyes when he looked at Wan Yankang were obviously much softer.

When the sun set, Ma Kubo looked at Yan Kang's eyes, and there was a change again.

Traveling 200 miles a day is equivalent to a walk for Wanyan Kang, and it is also a piece of cake for the accompanying soldiers.

But for Ma Kubo and a few little eunuchs who accompanied him, it cost half a life!

Makubo thought he could ride a horse, but after the past two days, he realized that being able to ride a horse and being good at riding are completely different things!

Needless to say, the skin on the inner thigh was bleeding, and the buttocks were so numb that they didn't feel it at all, and the moment they saw the gate of Gyeongju Mansion, Ma Jiu fell down from the horse.

The next day, when Wan Yankang was urging him to hurry, Ma Kubo showed a heroic appearance, staggering and struggling to get on the horse.

Seeing this, Wan Yankang hurriedly persuaded: "Father-in-law Ma, you are not in good health, and you can't ride a horse!" ”

Ma Kubo said angrily: "The body of the prince of ten thousand gold, in order to return to Beijing to restore his life, he can gallop immediately, and the old slave is a eunuch, even if he dies on horseback, he will return to Beijing with the son!" ”

Wan Yankang was amused in his heart, this old man obviously wanted to persuade him to stop riding a horse first, otherwise he would say something like dying on horseback!

Since a smart person didn't want to have a bad relationship with this person, Wan Yankang took the opportunity to persuade: "It's better to be like this, this son of the world will lead the crowd first, and Gonggong Ma can take the carriage back to Beijing." ”

Ma Kubo shook his head repeatedly: "How does this work!" How does this make! ”

Wan Yankang turned his face blank: "That's it, Grandpa Ma, don't say much!" ”

Ma Kubo showed a reluctant look and knelt down to respect the life of the son.

Wan Yankang took out two ingots of gold, quietly stuffed them into Ma Kubo's sleeve, and then patted him on the shoulder: "Grandpa Ma, take care, we'll all see you again!" ”

Ma Kubo waved goodbye with one hand, rubbed the two ingots in his hand with the other, and said in his heart: "This prince is really a wonderful person, if he really goes to the rumors, I am afraid that the overall situation will be different......

Gyeongju is still thousands of miles away from the central capital, and with the speed of the horse led by Yan Kang, if you gallop with all your might, you can arrive in three days. But since Ma Kubo's eunuchs are no longer on his side, there is no need to march in such a hurry, and traveling two hundred miles a day can be regarded as relaxed.

At the moment of the fourth day, marching to an important place in Dading Mansion, Wan Yankang suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation coming, he looked up at the front, suddenly raised his right hand, and shouted: "Stop advancing!" ”

The hundred cavalry behind him reined in their horses when they heard the order. Jue Zhi and Jue Hui rode to Wan Yankang's side and asked, "Dashuai, is there something wrong ahead?" ”

Wan Yankang stared ahead for a while, retracted his gaze, lowered his head and thought about it: "I don't know yet, the terrain of this gourd valley is dangerous, if there is an ambush, we are the hundredth brothers, I am afraid that most of them will have to be explained here." ”

When the two heard this, they jumped off their horses at the same time and asked for their lives: "Juezhi, Juehui, I am willing to go into the valley first!" ”

The gourd valley is named because of its mountain topography, the shape of the valley is like a gourd, the widest part has dozens of zhang, the narrowest place can only accommodate three horses in parallel, from the mouth of the valley to the other end, about ten miles long.

After Yan Kang's whim, he knew that there must be something strange in the valley, but if he didn't take the gourd valley at this time, he would have to make a detour for hundreds of miles. He thought for a moment in his heart, and then ordered: "You two go up the mountain from both sides of the valley mouth to investigate, if there is an ambush, it is probably enough to find out, remember not to reveal the line of hiding!" ”

"Yes!" Juezhi and Juehui received the order and prepared to fly up the mountain.

"Stay!" After Yan Kang stopped the two, he ordered the whole army to scatter at the mouth of the valley to make a reconnaissance, and after a stick of incense, everyone turned their horses back to the original place, and looked from a distance, no one noticed that there were two people missing in this hundred-man regiment.

Juezhi and Juehui took cover and climbed up the mountain around the distance. The two grew up in Shaomuro Mountain since childhood, and this time they entered the mountains and forests, like a tiger entering the deep mountains and a dragon returning to the sea. The two of them sometimes walked on the ground, sometimes leaping with the help of tree vines, like apes shuttling between the journeys, which is difficult for ordinary people to notice.

After entering the mountain, the two of them realized that something was wrong, and the birds in the mountains flew one after another, and they did not fall for a long time, which was clearly a sign that there were people in the forest. The two of them each took a light step and quietly touched the suspected person.

After most of the hour, Juehui turned back first, and he galloped to the rear from a distance, and made a big circle before returning to his own formation.

Wan Yankang saw Juehui's eager eyes, and only asked, "Is there an ambush?" ”

"Yes!"

"Rest first, and then we'll talk about it when Awakening returns." Wan Yan Kang commanded.

A quarter of an hour later, Enlightenment returned, bringing the same news.

At this time, Wan Yankang asked the two of them to tell the details of the situation.

There is no ambush at the mouth of the gourd valley, and when you enter the valley two miles, there are sentries hiding in high places to lookout, and every five or six zhang, there are people who respond.

Before and after the waist of the gourd, it is the place where the ambush soldiers are concentrated, according to the preliminary estimate of the situation explored by the two people, the ambush here should be about 1,000 people.

Further back, the tail of the gourd valley is unclear, because there are many ambushes at the waist of the gourd, and there is little chance of sneaking over quietly, so the two of them probed to the waist of the gourd, and they all turned back.

The two of them were supposed to be on the same page, but when they turned back, they accidentally stepped on a dead branch and alarmed a sentry, and he wasted a lot of effort to deal with this person silently, so he was a quarter of an hour late.

Of course, Juezhi didn't waste a quarter of an hour in vain, and this guy actually caught a roe deer with his bare hands on the way back.

After hearing this, Yan Kang frowned slightly, closed his eyes, and began to meditate. After a while, he opened his eyes and passed on the military order: "Camp on the spot and prepare dinner!" ”

A group of soldiers received the order, untied the backpack of the spare horse, took out a simple marching tent and set it up, and then picked up some dead branches and leaves nearby, and prepared to make a fire to make food at the mouth of the gourd valley.

At this time, it was early summer, the sun was slanting to the west, and the remnant sun was like blood. When the bonfire of the warriors of White Horse City was raised, Jue Hui asked with some puzzlement: "Marshal, it is too big to camp here, since there are ambushes in the valley, why don't we take a detour?" ”

Wan Yankang didn't answer, but asked Juezhi: "Juezhi, what do you think?" ”

Juezhi touched his head and thought hard for a while: "I don't know what to do!" ”

Wan Yankang stroked his forehead with his hand, these two master nephews, martial arts are first-class and strong, and after arriving in White Horse City, he practiced a good horse and archery kung fu in a few months, and was exceptionally promoted to platoon commander because of his military exploits.

It's just that in terms of military literacy, these two monks who have just returned to the vulgar are still chicks!

Wan Yankang came up with the idea that in the future, an officer training course should be set up in the army, and all officers who have accumulated merit to the level of company commander and above must graduate from the training class before they can be successfully appointed.

Juezhi's deputy, Wu Chengdong, approached and said with a smile: "I guess the young marshal is to lure the snake out of the hole." ”

Wan Yankang patted Wu Chengdong's shoulder and smiled: "That's right, let's eat meat with confidence, if it's not enough, wait for someone to send it to the door!" ”