After sending Guo Meng away, Zuo Sanxiang breathed a long sigh of relief, took out the secret decree given to him by the emperor and looked at it again and again.

There are only eight words on the secret decree: "Cut first and then play, act cheaply!" ”

However, he has been five hundred miles west of Yumen Pass, but Zuo Sanxiang did not kill any of his generals, and even Guo Meng scolded him in front of the whole army, but he did not do it.

"With a sharp weapon in your heart, you can kill yourself!" Zuo Sanxiang silently recited this sentence in his heart, he clearly knew that he had no ambition for most of his life, and he entered the Jin Palace's mansion by chance, and the emperor's intention to suddenly promote him was not that he would fight because he was a genius, but to cultivate new people to disintegrate the power of the Wang family in the military.

However, of the 5,000 people he brought, 3,000 were selected from the Fengxiang army, 1,000 were soldiers from Yongzhou Mansion, and the remaining 1,000 were recruited by the emperor with permission.

This means that more than half of the team of 5,000 people are the original Wang Fu's subordinates, and the captains and captains are all promoted by Wang Fu or Wang Fu's brothers, nephews, and grandchildren.

Fortunately, Zuo Sanxiang's martial arts are good, and he has won a few encounters in a few battles, and he has reported his merits to everyone, and so far he has not contradicted him.

But there are still nearly 1,000 miles to reach Gaochang, and they have to walk for at least 40 days, but their grain and grass can only support one month.

Liu Jingchuan, the grain and grass official, was personally selected by Zuo Sanxiang, this Liu Jingchuan was a beggar in his early years, and he mostly knew which leftovers and wild vegetable bark in the world could be eaten.

Zuo Sanxiang found Liu Jingchuan and a few other cronies, and prepared to replenish military rations by digging up wild vegetables.

Liu Jingchuan shook his head, "Digging wild vegetables is just a drop in the bucket, five thousand troops, there are not so many wild vegetables for us to dig, so I can only reduce the supply from now on and speed up the march!" ”

"Won't everyone know that we're short of food? Never! "The commander of the Chaoyong Battalion, Zu Nayan, was the first to object

"Tell me to say, it's better to divide half of the troops and go back to Yumen Pass to wait, save the grain and grass for the other half to escort the prince of Gaochang back to succeed to the throne!" MCA, the commander of the Yangwei battalion, proposed a compromise solution

Zuo Sanxiang looked at the three people, "What you said makes sense, but the reason why the battle of 5,000 people was to go to Gaochang was that the emperor and the court were definitely not for a puppet prince!" Today, I told the three brothers the truth, we used to have a big battle! Therefore, Lao Liu said it well, reduce the supply and speed up the speed, and then dig wild vegetables and shoot along the way, you can add a little bit of it! Of course, if there are some horse thieves or rebel camps, we can go and take their food! ”

Liu Jingchuan wanted to speak and stopped, Ma Hua looked at Liu Jingchuan, "You grain and grass official, be careful of your head!" ”

Zuo Sanxiang's eyes flickered, "Don't worry, Lao Liu, I'm not Cao Mengde, I won't borrow your head to settle the army's heart!" MCA, since you are so worried about Lao Liu's head, tomorrow before dawn, you will take 300 people to the front to explore the way, and find out if there are other people's camps! ”

Zu Nayan couldn't help but ask, "Third Brother Zuo, we already have a lot of blood on our hands, if we continue like this, if there is a mess in the future, we can't keep our heads small, and it will not be good to affect our families!" ”

"Do you know what it means to be in charge of the army? If you pity others, you will have to starve yourself with your men, and then you will either be killed by your subordinates or starve to death on the way! At this time, survival is the most important thing, and the exploits of war are originally piled up with white bones. If you are soft-hearted, you can go back to Luoyang and sleep with your wife in your arms! I don't blame you! ”

Zu Nayan gritted his teeth, "Come on, killing one is killing, robbing once is robbing, it's already done, so keep doing it!" ”

On the second day, Ma Hua and 300 people found several "horse thief" camps, beheaded hundreds, and intercepted thousands of cattle and sheep.

The commanders of the Fengxiang Army have also fought against bandits before, but such a blatant looting and killing is still the first

Times.

Wang Xiaoming, the commander of the Xiangqi battalion, questioned Zuo Sanxiang, "General Zhengxi, you are killing good and risking merit, and you want to damage Yin Virtue!" For the rest of the road, I'd rather starve to death with the soldiers in my battalion than do such a thing! ”

The rest of the commanders also surrounded one after another, "General Zhengxi, it's not that your subordinates want to offend you, there are rules for fighting in this war, what is the difference between us and thieves doing this?" ”

"Yes, if the other party is holding a scimitar and carrying a big bow, I will not be ambiguous in my hands, but they are just ordinary herdsmen, if the court knows about us doing this, we will all be blamed!"

The left three ministers unhurriedly took out the secret decree and unfolded it to them: "Take a good look!" You have been in the interior for too long, you don't know about the Western Regions, these people are herdsmen when they dismount, and when they get on their horses, they are cavalry attacking the border passes! If we don't kill them today, they will rob us tomorrow! The principle of striking first is strong, and I don't need to teach you people who have led soldiers for decades! As for the court, if they can send others, why should they send us? The national strength of the Great Liang can only support a 5,000-strong army to go to Gaochang, I think you know it too! ”

"General Zhengxi, do you mean that this time we are not going to be pretentious, but to play really?" Wang Xiaokuang, the commander of the Xiangrui battalion, was taken aback, he had not fought a major battle in Fengxiang Army Tuntian for more than ten years, and he did not expect to follow a newly promoted general to play with his life.

"General Zhengxi, our Fengxiang Army is in Tuntian, and we have no experience in fighting big battles, don't you let your brothers die?"

"General Zhengxi, the imperial court is only for us to escort Prince Gaochang to succeed to the throne, not to fight, don't scare everyone!"

Zuo Sanxiang smiled slyly, "Hehehehe, the commanders are laughing, the Fengxiang Army is the elite of my Liang, how can you be afraid of a big battle?" Although we don't have much experience, when we go all the way to Gaochang, this tiger and wolf division will be trained! Let me tell you one more secret, the camp where we captured the cattle and sheep today is the camp of the same clan in the Loulan Kingdom of the Thirty-six Kingdoms in the Western Regions. Although this Loulan Kingdom is gone, their clansmen are still there, and those who were able to compete with the Han Dynasty back then must have no low combat power. We have to be careful along the way, this Loulan people have revenge! ”

The generals shouted "General Zhengxi, you are too yin, you are here!" ”

Some stomped their feet, some shook their heads, and scolded their mothers, it was impossible to go back, and if they didn't complete the mission of escorting Prince Gaochang, they would have to engage in military law when they went back.

For the next thousands of miles, you have to be careful of the attacks of the Loulan people every day, is this still a human life?

Zuo Sanxiang smiled happily and shouted to a few soldiers more than ten meters away, "How is the mutton roasted?" Liu Liangguan said that adding some alfalfa is more flavorful! Have you added them all? ”

The commanders and captains who were angry and scolded their mothers just now immediately surrounded dozens of roasted sheep, "It's so fragrant!" Don't rob! Don't rob! ”

"That leg of lamb is mine! It's mine! ”

"I'm going to be a hind leg! Hind legs! ”

"Don't rob it, it's all shared, wait for me!"

Zuo Sanxiang slowly walked over and looked at the commanders and captains who were competing for mutton, "Is the mutton fragrant?" Is it tasty? ”

Wang Xiaoming picked up a leg of lamb and was tearing, "The meat is too tight, it is not baked well, and the taste is average!" ”

"It's far from catching up with the carved lamb leg in Luoyang City, but some of the food here is good!"

"It's a pity that there is no wine, if there is wine, it will be much better, and there is not enough salt, if you are not hungry, you really can't eat this meat!"

Zuo Sanxiang picked up a bone with a little mutton, patted the sand on it, and stretched the bone into the cauldron to wash it and eat it.

Everyone else looked at him like a monster, and then handed over the mutton they were holding tightly in their hands to Zuo Sanxiang.

"General Zhengxi, how can you eat what we threw away, this is passed out, we are here"

Instead of taking the meat they handed over, Zuo Sanxiang smashed open the bone with a copper hammer and ate the bone marrow inside.

"Everyone, don't look at the meat to eat today, it's such a waste, maybe in a few days there won't be so many cattle and sheep for us to eat! I have no other skills, the only thing I have more than others is to endure more than decades of hardship, since I was a child, I have been picking up other people's leftovers, by the way, there is also the grain and grass official Liu Jingchuan, he is more bitter than me, born as a beggar! ”

Everyone looked over with Zuo Sanxiang's gaze, and saw that Liu Jingchuan was leading a team of people to pick up bones on the ground everywhere.

"You don't know, this Lord Liu picked up these bones in case we can't eat meat for a few days, so we use these bones to make soup! We can eat as much as we want in the mainland, but now that we are thousands of miles away from Luoyang, we are ready to endure hardship. Of course, I don't want people to get to the point where they want to drink bone broth to satisfy their hunger. Since I have become this general of the expedition to the west, I naturally have to worry about everyone's food and clothing! The commander I sent out reported that there would be a walled city five hundred miles ahead, and that there would be enough food and wine there, and that we would just have to eat and drink as much as we could! ”

Ma Hua sighed in his heart, this general Zhengxi lied really without a draft, if there is no so-called walled city for another 500 miles, how will it end then.

Wang Xiaokuang put down the half-gnawed leg of mutton, "General Zhengxi, we understand, we will fight wherever you point in the future, we won't say much!" If there is really a walled city, I have to take a bath and scald three pots of wine to eat a dragon and phoenix feast! ”

"Don't dream, in this desert, where did the snakes and chickens come from to make a dragon and phoenix feast for you"

Zuo Sanxiang smiled and waved his hand, "No, no, no, everyone has to be careful in this desert, there are also poisonous snakes, hidden in the sand, sometimes at the water's edge, so every time we go to fetch water, our brothers will poke and walk on the ground with spears, and they have to stab into the water for a while!" By the way, starting tonight, we have to set up fires outside each camp, whether they are cow dung and horse dung or dry bones and rotten wood, and try to light them as much as possible! ”

Wang Xiaoming looked at Zuo Sanxiang, "General Zhengxi, you seem to know everything, where do you learn?" ”

"I said that everyone must not believe it without a master, my master was met when I was eighteen years old, at that time I was still herding cattle and farming, this master was chased and killed, in a hurry, I picked up a hoe and killed the two people who chased him, and became his apprentice, he called himself the old man of Mingyue"

"Wait, the person who can teach you martial arts is hunted down and killed, and you pick up a hoe to kill people by farming, this doesn't make sense" Wang Xiaozhun, the commander of the Xiangfeng Battalion, was thoughtful, and suddenly heard the flaw

"Haha, I was young and ignorant at that time, and later I learned that it was this old man Mingyue who deliberately made a game to lure me to kill people and then be forced to flee! This old guy is so bad."

Everyone laughed secretly, just wanting to say that no wonder you are so bad, it turned out that the master taught you.

After telling the story of the old man with the bright moon, it was already dusk, and the sunset in the desert was particularly magnificent.

Zuo Sanxiang looked around, "You have to be careful tonight, the people of Loulan will rob the camp tonight, everyone will dig long ditches and big pits outside the camp tent, and in addition, we must guard against wolves!" ”

That night, the Loulan people did not appear, but the wolves really came, dragging away dozens of soldiers.

On the second day, everyone complained to each other, and they couldn't even deal with the wolves.

"Brother Ming, you guys are too cowardly, watching a few brothers being dragged away!"

"Don't say cool things, the wolves rush like crazy, and they even put out the fire!"

"This wolf really didn't want to die, shot a piece and then rushed back, fortunately, we killed hundreds of wolves last night"

Zuo Sanxiang patrolled with people, "Don't be careless, as long as there is still a wolf in the wolf pack, they will take revenge, but it's okay, some meat has been eaten along the way, wolf meat is difficult to eat, and the wolf's heart is poisonous, but it's better than nothing!" ”