The clearing of the battlefield, the rectification of law and order in the city, and the recovery of the cattle and sheep that had been robbed and scattered in all directions continued for several days. There is a saying in the art of war, and those who know soldiers are not warlike. Even if it is defeated, what remains behind is a mess that is difficult to clean up. Wounded soldiers, attrition, chaos, none of which is easy to solve.

The battle of Shancheng has been nearly a month from the time when Xue Wanjun sent troops to the present. Almost all of the 3,000 generals led by Xue Wanjun were killed, the pastures and farmland in Shancheng suffered great losses, the public order in the city fell into chaos, the people were panicked, and spring plowing production was stagnant for a time......

Qin Mubai did not reprimand and ridicule Xue Wanjun, but let the facts make him regret painfully - he was eager to work and be warlike, and this is the result!

Xue Wanjun had nothing to say, and lay on the sickbed every day without leaving home. He was even a little afraid to face his comrades-in-arms and the people of the city. Later, he wrote a plea and a list of resignations. They were sent to the governor Qin Shubao, and handed them to the imperial court.

Qin Shubao was in Lanzhou and received the good news from Qin Mubai, and he was very relieved. This was followed by a petition that made him even more angry. The Xue brothers have always been unruly and unruly, and they have been dissatisfied with the Qin father and son for a long time. This time, it was the facts that slapped him in the face and convinced him. It is estimated that in the future, he will not dare to make another mistake. Xue Wanjun is Xue Wanche's father and the leader of that faction. Subduing him is equivalent to subduing the Xue faction. Since then, the Qin family in Lanzhou has been respected, and it is just around the corner.

A few days later, Li Shimin received several war reports from Lanzhou, as well as Xue Wanjun's resignation.

Xue Wanjun was defeated, losing 3,000 elite soldiers, and Shancheng suffered a lot of damage; After that, Qin Mubai defeated the Tubo people and killed thousands of enemies, tried his best to protect Shancheng and quickly carried out the aftermath work, further reduced the disaster, and soon put Shancheng back on track and resumed production.

The two are compared, and the advantages and disadvantages are judged!

Xue Wanjun was indeed guilty of violating military orders, and the other was mainly self-conscious, so he handed in his resignation.

Although Li Shimin is not in Lanzhou, he has a very thorough analysis of the situation. Naturally, he would not agree to Xue Wanjun's resignation, so he issued an order to commend and reward Qin Mubai and other generals, and at the same time comforted Xue Wanjun with "the common thing of winning and defeating soldiers". Then the military law was ruthless, and the sanction should still be sanctioned, so Xue Wanjun was symbolically demoted to the first rank, the first rank, and a number of fiefdoms, and his official "General Zuo Weiwei" was changed from a real official to an inspector, and he was still in charge of his original post to make meritorious contributions to observe the after-effects.

Originally, Li Shimin didn't want to interfere too much in Lanzhou's military and political affairs, and the Qin and Xue factions were evenly matched, which was a good thing for him. But the reality is in front of him, Xue Wanjun is not angry, and he lost his teacher and humiliated the land, so that the disaster in Shancheng is not small, Qin Mubai was ordered to turn the tide and make great contributions. It is clear who should be rewarded and who should be punished. So, Li Shimin had no choice but to do so.

When the holy decree arrived in Shancheng, Qin Mubai was in the general's mansion, taking care of military and political affairs on behalf of Xue Wanjun, who was seriously injured and recuperating. After receiving the holy decree, Qin Mubai just smiled slightly, knowing the emperor's intentions as well as his chest. The emperor has the heart of the emperor, and according to the general reward and punishment, a general like Xue Wanjun who violates the military order and makes an arbitrary claim, resulting in a big defeat and loss, can have been beheaded with a knife. Even if you think of your previous achievements, you will at least be a degraded official and exiled. The emperor didn't want the balance of power in Lanzhou to deviate too much, so he was "very" lenient with Xue Wanjun and symbolically punished.

Thinking about this, Qin Mubai didn't want to stay in Shancheng for a long time, lest he fall into the notoriety of taking advantage of people's danger to seize authority. He wrote a letter to Qin Shubao, asking him to issue a military order in the name of the governor and temporarily transfer Xue Wanche, the younger brother of Xue Wanjun, to Shancheng to take over his brother's military power. As for Liangzhou, it is up to Xue Wanjun to appoint a capable person to take over temporarily.

In the past few days, Shancheng's "butt" has almost been wiped clean, and Qin Mubai can indeed leave with confidence. It's not that he doesn't worry about the Tubo people going and returning to make trouble, but he is more concerned about the production and people's livelihood here. Seeing that everything was back on track, Qin Mubai took Xue Rengui and Yuwen Hongtai and other generals to lead Qinxun's troops away.

Xue Wanche heard that his brother was defeated in Shancheng and his life and death were unpredictable, and he was already anxious, and he couldn't wait to fly to Shancheng to help. If it weren't for the military order, how could he have waited until today? After receiving Qin Shubao's order, he couldn't wait to come over, and there was some gratitude in his heart.

The brothers finally met.

Xue Wanjun lay on the sickbed and sighed: "Second brother, foolish brother this time, it's really embarrassing to be thrown home!" ”

"Brother doesn't have to blame himself, victory and defeat are commonplace, when my brother recovers, our two brothers will go out together to conquer Dafeichuan, vowing to take the Tubo camp and avenge this great revenge for my brother!" Xue Wanche gritted his teeth.

"No, no, never!" Xue Wanjun waved his hand again and again and said, "The shame that the foolish brother said is not because of defeat. You and my brother have killed countless people in half their lives in the army, and they can afford to win or lose for a while. Ay! Hate only hate, the foolish brother was helpless, and received Qin Mubai Ruo's great favor. In the future, you and my brothers, I'm afraid that in front of their father and son, we won't be able to raise our heads! ”

"Brother, what are these words!" Xue Wanche hurriedly said, "Didn't he Qin Mubai just pick up a dead fish and win the battle?" Winning the battle, who hasn't fought it, our brothers haven't won the battle for Datang for half their lives! Why did he come from in front of their father and son, unable to raise their heads? ”

"Brother Xian, you only know one thing, but you don't know the other." Xue Wanjun said with a bitter face, "That Qin Mubai, although he is young, he is really proficient in the art of war, and he has the ability to comprehend the true inheritance of Li Jing, and he has the ability to be unpredictable. Winning a battle alone is indeed not enough to mention. Then, he tricked the Tibetan army like an ignorant child, but the foolish brother was really convinced! Moreover, just a few days later, he reorganized the situation to get Shancheng back on track quickly, and minimized the disaster of the defeat of the foolish brother. - Moreover, if this is not the case, how can the defeat of the foolish brother be explained by the emperor? It was precisely because of the disaster after the defeat that Qin Mubai was minimized that the foolish brother was able to survive and died without being punished by the army. Could it be that I received the favor of Qin Mubai from him? is more direct, you don't know Qin Shubao's temperament. It is absolutely difficult for his subordinates to tolerate disobeying military orders, not to mention that he is defeated and lost his division because of disobedience to orders, and he is sure to kill. If it weren't for Qin Mubai's guarantee in front of his father, I'm afraid that the foolish brother would have been a dead soul under the knife, let alone today! ”

After hearing this, Xue Wanche shook his head helplessly, and sighed: "The skills are not as good as others, only admit it!" ”

"Originally, Qin Shubao was just a martial artist, at best, he was equal to my two brothers, and he had nothing to fear." Xue Wanjun said, "It's also powerful in his son Qin Mubai. It is time for us to realize that the emperor must have sent him with far-reaching intentions. In the future, the lord of Lanzhou must be Qin Mubai! ”

"Wouldn't it? He is so young, can he coordinate the frontier through Helong? Xue Wanche was surprised, "If it were Li Jinglai, I would believe it." ”

"You're still convinced." Xue Wanjun smiled bitterly, "This kid's ability and ambition, we can only look up." In other words, if he wants to kill us, it's just a matter of turning over and over. This time, he repaid me with virtue and let me go, and in the future, we had to get to know each other a little better. ”

"That's it!" Xue Wanche sighed, "Foolish brother has no claim, everything is up to the elder brother!" ”

"Well, these words are not enough for outsiders to hear. Since you have come to Shancheng to take over my position, concentrate on rectifying the army and restraining the people, and fulfill the decrees of the Governor's Office! Xue Wanjun sighed, "Concentrate on farming, don't think about going on an expedition." I think that their father and son have already planned in their hearts, and when it is time to fight, they will naturally think of us. ”

"Alright! Just listen to my brother! ”

Qin Mubai led the army back to Lanzhou, and the people in the city welcomed him in the middle of the road, and it was extremely lively. He rode into the city on a large horse, which can be regarded as enjoying the exclusive treatment of a hero.

Qin Shubao was also very happy when he received his son. This time, Qin Mubai made him have a big face, which is more joyful than his own victory in person. So, he held a celebration banquet for the victorious soldiers in the commander's tent of the Chinese army, and it was a big scene.

After the wine was half-drunk, the father and son returned to the room. Qin Shubao took out a letter and said, "San Lang, here is a letter from home, written by your mother. ”

"Oh?" Qin Mubai took it and took a look, and said in surprise: "Mother and sister are also coming to Lanzhou?" ”

"yes!" Qin Shubao said, "After your request to the people to enter Lan was approved by the imperial court, it was immediately implemented. There were not a few family members of the officers and men of the three armies, so they moved to Lanzhou in batches. This first batch is naturally the military dependents of the two capitals in Guannai. Aren't your mother and sister military dependents? ”

"And what does Father mean?" Qin Mubai asked.

"Don't come." Qin Shubao replied decisively.

Qin Mubai nodded, no objection. He understood what his father meant, not that he didn't miss his wife and daughter at home, but that he wanted to reassure the emperor and avoid suspicion. Imagine, the family has moved to Lanzhou, and Qin Shubao no longer has any worries. If something really happens one day, he can raise the flag and stand on his own.

Leaving his mother and sister-in-law in Chang'an has the meaning of being "hostages".

"Your two brothers also sent a letter, saying that they want to come to Lanzhou together. I also refused. Qin Shubao also said.

"Hmm...... It's good. ”

"San Lang, it's not easy to be a king, and it's not easy to be a minister!" Qin Shubao sighed and said, "We must not only contribute to the country and share the worries of the king, but also save the king from suspicion." Otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve great things. We are waiting for a martial artist, and we should die when we serve the country, and it is not a pity to die. The only thing worth worrying about is that we must not affect the country's plans because of these small things. It is not advisable to lose the big because it is small! ”

"The father is determined to serve the country with a heart like the sea, and the child admires it!" Qin Mubai praised sincerely.

"How old am I...... Although I am strong, I feel some powerlessness after all. Qin Shubao patted Qin Mubai on the shoulder, "Lanzhou, Guanlong, and even the Western Regions, the future is still counting on you." I am telling you this in the hope that you will do your duty and forget your selfishness, and do not mislead the country's major affairs because of your own selfishness. ”

"Yes, the boy wrote it down." Qin Mubai bowed his hand.

"That's right." Qin Shubao remembered something and said, "That scholar of yours, Qin Shi, came back to the Governor's Mansion to look for you a few days ago, probably because he had something important. When the old man asked him, he refused to say anything, and it seemed that he was only willing to tell you. You pay attention. ”

"yes, got it." Qin Mubai's heart couldn't help but light up: since he came to Lanzhou, Qin Shi and Tu Youhai disappeared from everyone's sight with more than 100 skilled craftsmen. They have been secretly ordered by me to study and fan cast red-clothed cannons in the area of the iron mine, could it be that there is a result?

Great, I'll see for myself tomorrow!