"Being a human being is like playing chess, there are ranks."

After Cao Dingbang took off his armor, he looked more like a scholar, but this scholar was tall and looked quite heroic, and he poured tea while talking.

He looked cautious when pouring tea, he cared a lot about his actions, although in Tang Yuan's opinion, his action of pouring tea was still a little rusty, and it seemed to be a little deliberate.

However, he was already trying very hard to show his relaxation, which was not something he pretended, because he really didn't need to look nervous in front of Tang Yuan.

Especially when people who are close to fifty years old are facing young men in their twenties.

"Forty-three years ago, I followed General Min Yue on an expedition to the Western Regions, and when we first went there, the situation in the Western Regions was much worse than we thought. Due to the corruption and wealth accumulation of the previous general of the Anxi Prefecture, he has lost the support of the people in the local area, and when General Min Yue arrived there, almost no soldiers could be recruited, and even people threw rotten vegetable leaves at us. ”

When he said this, he did not hide his pain in the slightest, and even felt that his hands were trembling. He had an old wound on his hand, and looking at the scars, he knew that the injury must have been very serious at that time, so his hand was a little unable to stretch, and his ring finger and little finger were bent.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that his movements do not look skillful enough.

"I will never forget the day I entered the city for the first time, Agrama's troops were approaching Jiaohe City, we had to react as quickly as possible, but at that time, the people did not cooperate at all, but we still had to defend the city, right?"

In fact, Tang Yuan, you don't know who Agrama is, because it was already a character forty years ago, not to mention Tang Yuan at that time, maybe Tang Yuan's mother had just been born.

When the old general talked about the past, his expression was a little heavy.

"Everyone said that our army was an iron army, but in fact, we suffered heavy losses in the first battle to the Western Regions, General Min Yue brought 20,000 people, and in the battle with Agrama, more than 8,000 people were sacrificed, 200 were seriously wounded, and countless were lightly wounded. We have to deal with the enemy on the one hand, and we have to deal with the rioting people on the other, and General Min Yue has given a death order that we must not resist the attacks of the people. Do you know how many brothers we died at that time? I'm not talking about dying on the battlefield. ”

Tang Yuan shook his head.

Cao Dingbang continued: "At least 500 people died at the hands of the rebels. I think you're shocked too. If it weren't for the high enough prestige of General Min Yue, I can guarantee that the army would have mutinied in that case. We were besieging the people of Jiaohe City, but our brothers were brutally killed by the people. How big is this grievance? How deep is the resentment? Anyway, pull my current troops over, and I'm sure I won't be able to do it. But Min Yue can. ”

Tang Yuan raised his eyes to look at Cao Dingbang, and there was an unshakable adoration for Min Yue in his eyes.

Tang Yuan nodded, expressing his approval of General Min Yue.

Cao Dingbang smiled bitterly: "But our efforts have been rewarded, and the people have slowly accepted us and begun to atone for their sins." They entertained us with cattle, sheep, and grain, and at that time, we were not happy, and some of us even wailed. It was at that time that we were more determined to support Min Yue. This insistence is thirty-nine years, eight months and seventeen days. ”

"I remember it so clearly..."Tang Yuan smiled bitterly.

"yes, I remember it very well." Cao Dingbang suddenly felt that drinking tea could not relieve the bitterness in his heart, so he asked his subordinates to come up with wine, "The first three years of our life in the Western Regions were all on defense, and in the fourth year, we began to counterattack, and the fight was quite smooth at first, but suddenly, the Sangla people blocked the Hexi Corridor. Let's get caught up in a second round of crisis. At the time we thought we were finished, completely finished. How can we live with just one Jiaohe City? However, it was under such circumstances that General Min Yue led us to win one battle after another, especially the 100,000 counterattacks of the Turks. We defended the city with the people of Jiaohe. Killed Agrama and seriously wounded Anjiči, and the Turks never had the idea of fighting the city again. At the same time, the four armies of Anxi also looked forward to Jiaohe City. In exchange for more than thirty years of peace. Later, it was you who succeeded General Min Yue as the new commander of Jiaohe City. At first, we thought you would just have to follow in the footsteps of General Min Yue, but we didn't expect you to start recruiting our former allies. ”

Tang Yuan said helplessly: "Actually, I don't want to do that. ”

"Okay, no need to explain." Cao Dingbang smiled: "We also guessed, it must be the imperial court that gave you some task." But don't forget, you will be subject to military orders abroad. As the marshal of Anxi, he shouldn't listen to the court for everything. In fact, as long as you send back a piece of paper, saying that the situation in the Western Regions is not suitable for war, the imperial court will have nothing to do with you. Thankfully, you're nimble and don't go toe-to-toe with our former allies. It is said that you played our simple allies around, and ended up running back and forth tired. ”

Tang Yuan smiled ashamedly.

"Very well, to fight a war is to use your brains. The territory of the Western Regions is vast, and your tactic is to take advantage of the geographical advantage, which is also in line with the art of war. After Cao Dingbang finished talking nonsense, he began to cut to the topic, which Tang Yuan had long expected, and he changed his words and said: "You came to Jingzhou this time, is it an order from the emperor or an order from the queen mother?" ”

"The Queen Mother didn't tell you?" Tang Yuanhui smiled.

Cao Dingbang stared at Tang Yuan, "Actually, the Queen Mother rarely contacts me. I took the initiative to report the situation. The Queen Mother's reply to me was also very simple, most of the time there were only two words 'very good'. ”

Tang Yuan stopped smiling and said, "Actually, my original intention of becoming a soldier was to expel the Tartars, and I never thought about getting involved in a battle with the Lords one day in the future. In the past, I thought this way when the three major gate valves were there, and now only the Tang family is left, and I think the same way. But ......, to be honest, I don't think I can escape. ”

"If you can't escape, it's right." Cao Dingbang took a sip of wine: "People can't help themselves. What we are most worried about for the generals is not the battlefield, because on the battlefield, it is a big deal to die, and after death, they will become martyrs, although the family will cry a few times at first, but later, they will be honored. But when the war ended, we were redundant. Of course, this situation will not occur in the Liang Dynasty for the time being. Because of the existence of the gate valve, the imperial court has always raised its vigilance. ”

Tang Yuan smiled bitterly: "Later, I suddenly figured out a truth. ”。

"Speak!" Cao Dingbang looked very happy.

"Even if I wasn't a general, my army would still exist. And if I'm not a general, what can I do? I used to think about going home and farming, but then I was told that it was impossible. ”