However, Dou Gu did not order, he was waiting for someone. He knew that this person was going to come after all. Sure enough, the sound of hurried horses' hooves sounded from afar, raising a puff of dust. After a while, several people drove their horses forward, and when they arrived at the law field, they all jumped off their horses, galloped in front of Dou Gu, bent down and said, "I've seen General Dou!" These people are Geng Gong, Fan Qiang, and Wu Meng.

As the saying goes, a good man is afraid of illness to grind, Geng Gong recuperated in bed, cold and hot for a while, Tommy did not enter, and his dignified nine-foot body fell down like a mountain. Suddenly, when he heard Fan Qiang say that Li Dare went to find Dou Gu's theory, he was shocked and sweated, hurriedly put on his clothes, staggered, reluctantly got on his horse, and took Fan Qiang and Wu Meng to rush to the Chinese army.

Geng Gong had already seen Li Kang kneeling there, and when he saw that the executioner had not made a move, he had a little understanding in his heart. After saluting, Geng Gong said: "General Dou, Li Dare is a reckless man, he is offended, and I ask the general to take pity on him for his courage and military exploits, and spare his life to serve the country." Dou Gu deliberately muttered. Liu Zhang said: "Geng Gong, Li dared to break into the Chinese army privately, disobeyed the general's order, and should be beheaded according to the law, even you, you also have the crime of lax discipline, how can you lend him to death?" ”

At this time, Geng Bing also hurried over. The edict of returning to the army for the time being made Geng Bing quite uncomfortable, but he had been in the officialdom for a long time and knew that this matter was irreparable, so he secretly swallowed his breath in the tent, and he heard Dou Gu wanting to kill Li Kang, so he hurriedly got up. Geng Bing pulled Dou Gu aside and said: "Geng Gong's merits are not rewarded, and the soldiers have many complaints. Besides, today's Western Regions is not peaceful, the country is thinking of good generals, Li Dare is brave and brave, it is worthy of equipment, in the country and at home, it is very beneficial, if he wants to die, why not let him die on the battlefield? ”

These words were reasonable, and he nodded slightly, and said, "Don't worry, general, I have my own measure." After speaking, he came to Geng Gong and said: "I was going to behead Li Kang and use the military law, however, General Geng pleaded for mercy, and the marshal spared him for the time being, but he must make up for his mistakes and make meritorious contributions!" Geng Gong said excitedly: "General Dou has any instructions, but please say it clearly and follow it." ”

"The emperor named you the captain of Wuji, and the soldiers are full of gold, just because he wants you to map the Western Regions. Now, the countries of Wusun, Qiuzi, Yanqi and other countries in the Western Regions have not been pacified, you make a military order, within three years, pacify the countries of the Western Regions, and you can borrow Li Dang's death! ”

The pacification of the Western Regions is the Tianshan covenant between Geng Gong and Ban Chao, of course he has no objections, and just as he is about to respond, Wu Meng said softly: "Brother Geng, I don't think this matter is simple, the pacification of the Western Regions is a matter for the Protectorate, we set up a military order, is there a suspicion of taking power?" How will you get along with General Chen Mu in the future? Besides, the captain can only command 2,000 troops, such a weak force, self-protection is still insufficient, how can he pacify the Western Regions? Geng Gong sighed and said, "I knew that this matter was not simple, but now, if you don't stand up, otherwise, how can you rescue Brother Dare?" So regardless of Wu Meng's dissuasion, he replied: "I am willing to make a military order, three years of uneven Western Regions, Geng Gong is willing to thank the world with death!" ”

"Well, what a strong man! is worthy of being a descendant of the Geng family! Come on, pen and ink waiting! Someone immediately presented pen and ink, Geng Gong brushed a few words, made a military order, untied the rope on Li Kang's body, said goodbye to Geng Bing, and returned to the barracks.

The next day, Dou Gu returned to the army, leaving Chen Mu, Geng Gong, and Guan Pet to lead their troops in the Western Regions. Dou Gu thought of his dead son and his daughter who wanted to be the queen, and he traveled day and night, doubling his ways, hoping to return to Kyoto as soon as possible, so as not to cause extraneous branches.

After a few days, the army has passed the Yumen Pass, ashamed to see Luoyang, Kyoto, Dou Gu can't wait to cross one day. Liu Zhang said suddenly: "General, when the march is here, there is no need to be anxious, you must cherish the horsepower and march slowly." "Dou Gu didn't obey. Liu Zhang said: "The emperor has a thousand miles of ambition, and has long wanted to imitate the story of Emperor Wu to conquer the Huns, and the emperor agreed to return to the army for the time being, which is really a last resort, but I am worried that we have elite soldiers and gather people for chaos. At that time, it was much easier to deal with a toothless tiger. In the past few days, I asked the envoys carefully, and the emperor was getting sick. I watched the astronomy at night, and saw that the crape myrtle star was out of position, crumbling, and carefully calculated, when Mount Tai collapsed in these days. Today, we are only a few hundred miles away from Beijing, and we will arrive in one day. Wait for the emperor to enter the capital after a hundred years, and at that time, no one can control us. We are serving the capital and supporting the crown prince, and we have made great contributions, without any worries, and please think twice about the general. Dou Gu was overjoyed and said: "General Liu's words are reasonable, but I didn't think about it carefully, and I almost missed a big thing." General Liu sent me an order to go down, and the recent march has been hard, so I can camp on the spot, rest for a few days, and then make a decision. ”

However, it was said that Emperor Ming of the Han Dynasty waited for Dou Gu to return to the army for a long time, and waited left and right, but did not return. He dreamed all day long that Liu Ying, the king of Chu, Liu Jing, the king of Guangling, and other people who died in prison stood by the bedside and couldn't be reprimanded. That night, heavy rain poured down, lightning and thunder, and the trees were swept up by the wind and fell at the gate of the palace. Emperor Ming suddenly woke up and was confused, and he knew that he was uncertain, so he hurriedly summoned the crown prince Liu Wei, the king of the East China Sea Liu Zheng, the great Sima Wulun, the great Si Nong Wang Min, the captain of the Sili school Bao Yu, and the Huangmen squire Ma Fang.

The crown prince Liu Wei knelt beside the dragon's bed, held Emperor Ming's thin hand, and burst into tears. Emperor Ming cheered up and hissed: "I have reigned for eighteen years, I am sincerely afraid, walking on thin ice, carefully abiding by the system of building martial arts, not daring to slack off, not going a little over, consciously worthy of the ancestors and ancestors, but there are four things with a guilty conscience, one is the great Xing Chu Prison, Guangling King Liu Jing, Chu Wangying and others, although there is disrespect, but did not rebel, but I have been in prison, tossing and implicating, affected by tens of thousands of people, I know in my heart, there are wrongs, I am afraid more than half; The second is that Wang Qiang of the East China Sea gave way to me in front of the emperor several times, I am the king of the world, I wanted to repay Wang Qiang of the East China Sea, but I knew that Wang Qiang of the East China Sea did not get up and died early, I wanted to repay, and there was no way to hate, although I increased the fiefdom of the sons of Wang Qiang of the East China Sea, but only repaid one or two. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Ming opened his eyes and looked at Liu Zheng, the king of the East China Sea, Liu Zheng knelt on the ground and said with tears: "Your Majesty, you treat your ministers and nephews like parents and sons, this kind of kindness, my father is in the spirit of heaven, I am already grateful, please don't worry about the emperor, treat the dragon body well." ”

Emperor Ming breathed for a long time, drank some water, and continued: "The third is that since I ascended the throne, I have suppressed my relatives, which is too extreme. Fourth, I have the intention to imitate the story of Emperor Wu, pacify the Western Regions and the Xiongnu, and shine for thousands of years, how do I know that I was bullied by Dou Gu, and under the good situation, I actually withdrew from the army, which is really hateful. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Ming coughed again, coughing breathlessly, and it took a long time to calm down, and said: "I belittle Geng Gong and want the prince to be gracious to him, so that Geng Gong will be able to swear to the death if he knows that he will repay his kindness." If you want to level the Western Regions, you have to Geng Gong and Ban Chao! Zun'er, Zun'er, you, you must fulfill my will, do you hear? Emperor Ming suddenly used all his strength, got up slightly, stretched out his thin hand, and tightly grasped Liu Wei's hand. The crown prince Liu Wei should not bow his head, and the crusade against the Western Regions and the Xiongnu is, in his opinion, nothing more than a reckless force, and the gains outweigh the losses. When Emperor Ming saw that the prince didn't speak, he became more and more resentful, and said: "The son is not class, class, like me!" ”

Emperor Ming tried his best, and when he said the last word "I", he couldn't support it anymore, stretched out his feet, fell heavily on the bed, and died suddenly. This day is the autumn moon of the eighteenth year of Yongping in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Liu Zheng saw it and hurriedly ran out of the palace. Outside the majestic palace, the wind is stronger, the rain is more fierce, and the night is so dark that you can't see your fingers.

(End of chapter)