"Thank you for your trouble," Gao Su's eyes darkened, and he said in a low voice: "However, Chang'an's side ...... Already married. ”

Zhao Xingde and Liu Zhijian were both stunned, Zhao Xingde patted Gao Su's shoulder and didn't say anything more.

The old brothers of the Eighth Battalion all knew that Gao Su attached great importance to this family business. Liu Zhijian looked at Gao Su with sympathy, when he was in Guangzhou, Gao Su pulled Liu Zhijian to drink wine together in the middle of the night, and Gao Su's spirit has not been very uplifted since then. Although he didn't say anything, Liu Zhijian already had some vague guesses, he somewhat understood this mood, and it was unbearable to watch his woman marry someone else, especially Gao Su. When he was in Yangzhou, the officers met to drink flower wine, Gao Su was always the most "honest" one, and he was also a good partner of Du Fujiao in terms of saving money to buy family business.

"I'm going to anchor again tomorrow." Zhao Xingde took out a bottle of blood-colored peach wine from the cabinet next to the table.

With a faint apology, Zhao Xingde filled several glass cups one by one. Gao Su's experience is not the only one in the Chengying Camp. Although the emperor issued an edict that the sergeants could be reunited with their families after three years, however, like Zhao Xingde, every time he and his family were in a hurry, and the husband and wife got together less and left more. Like Gao Su, because he has been out for too long, the family affairs in his hometown have also come to an end. Guanzhong, Shuzhong is rich, there are many merchants, the status of the sergeant is respected, and the large family usually has a sergeant to support the lintel, if they don't have it, even if they recruit a redundant. However, when they had a sergeant in the family, they tried their best to prevent the sergeant who supported the family from going out to fight.

For the wealthy businessmen of Chang'an, it is not as easy to shed blood on the battlefield as to make money in business.

"It's nothing to marry, why marry a widower......"

Gao Su took the wine glass and drank it all, he muttered regretfully: "Is the stepmother so good? ””

If the woman had married a wishful husband, he might not have been so miserable, but he had married a widower who had died with a dead wife, who was more than a dozen years older than her, and the three children left behind by his deceased wife. Gao Su knew that there was an element of family background in this, however, he still felt aggrieved for the person in his heart, how could he be wronged like this for the rest of his life. Or maybe it's all your fault. If he hadn't gone to Liaodong first, and then went to the Song Kingdom, and hadn't made up his mind to retire and return to his hometown for several years, perhaps, everything would not have ended like this. Whenever he thought of this, self-blame gnawed at his heart like countless insects.

"Grape wine glow-in-the-dark glass, if you want to drink the pipa, urge immediately. Drunk and lying on the battlefield, Jun Mo smiled, and a few people came back to fight in ancient times. ”

Liu Zhijian groaned in a low voice, interrupting Gao Su's self-blame like a resentful woman. He didn't say anything boring like "there is no grass at the end of the world", but diverted the topic, and poured the wine glasses in front of the four of them to drink. His impassioned tone vaguely reminded people of the past, before each expedition. The prohibition of alcohol on sea ships was not as strict as on land marches, and many sailors used to mix spirits with clear water to drink in order to disinfect and prevent embalming, but only ordinary rice wine was rationed to officers and soldiers. Guanzhong's wines, especially the heroic blood of the three steamed and three brewed, are not only a rare delicacy, but also reminiscent of the taste of Guanzhong's hometown.

"Come, General, I'll toast you!"

"When will the general give two more tricks, three wives and four concubines, how can they be appeased?"

Gao Su was a little dazed, picked up his wine glass and said to Zhao Xingde: "If Lao Gao had one-third of the ability of a general, he would not have fallen into the current field, what Yunwen Yunwu, what a useless person." Zhao Xingde's face was a little embarrassed, he rubbed his forehead, sighed, and didn't explain anything, and drank a full cup with him. From top to bottom, most of the sergeants in Xia are monogamous, and there are a few wives like him, and others are envious, but also have a lot of criticism, most of them say that Zhao Xingde is sorry for his original wife. Gao Su is a dignified and stable person, although he is his subordinate, I am afraid that he will not think so, and he will say everything with the strength of wine at this moment.

"Lao Gao," Liu Zhijian frowned, "You're drunk!" He took the wine away from Gao Su's eyes.

"I'm not drunk!" Gao Su unrelentingly guarded the wine glass, "I'm going to go on the expedition tomorrow, can't I get drunk today?" ”

It is precisely because of the steadiness of the person that since he learned the news from Chang'an, Gao Su has been suppressing the depression in his heart, and he has not poured it out until today, and the wine is even more sorrowful, the wine is not a very strong wine, and his hands trembled slightly after four or five glasses.

Liu Zhijian sighed, and just wanted to change the wine in front of him to honey water, but was stopped by Zhao Xingde reaching out.

"Let him drink," Zhao Xingde looked at Liu Zhijian's inquiring eyes, "Lao Gao vented this time, it is beneficial." ”

Liu Zhijian nodded, retracted his hand, and Gao Su took this opportunity, and muttered, "It's done!" Although the boat does not prohibit drinking, the taste of hangover is not pleasant, especially when it is about to set sail tomorrow, Zhao Xingde will watch the ceremony on the ship as usual, so that the sailors on the shore and all ships can see themselves.

"General Zhao doesn't have to worry, when you first joined Chengying, you knew that you would have to go out to fight all year round."

Liu Zhijian comforted Zhao Xingde and said: "Lao Gao just can't think about it for a while, after this wine wakes up, he will slowly let it go." ”

Zhao Xingde nodded, he didn't know this, but his heart was a little heavy, the faces of several beauties flashed in his heart, his eyes were like smoke, and he regretted goodbye again and again, and there was a lot of guilt in the long parting. Liu Zhijian also sighed, he had already settled on his family, but he had gathered less and left more over the years. Gao Su was already drunk, and the atmosphere was not only not relaxed, but became heavier and heavier.

"Guanzhong is a little better," Shi Heng put down his wine glass and said worriedly, "Over there in the river, the folk already have a saying that they are blessed with feet." ”

"The world has been peaceful for a long time, and the people's hearts are not as good as when the country was founded, so ...... go on like this"

Liu Zhijian sighed. The so-called blessed hands and feet are broken hands and feet. Hezhong mobilized retired sergeants on a large scale to fight against the Great Food Turks, and requisitioned regiments to train camps and go into battle. In general, the people in the river were fierce, and the Great Food Turks aroused the common hatred of the people, however, the defeat of Zhou Li's army and the heavy losses in the sea of hot sand also caused panic among the people in the river. Because people with broken hands and feet do not have to go into battle to stay in their hometowns, for those who do not want to go to war, broken hands and feet are also called blessed hands and feet. Although there are only a few people who are war-weary, such a statement is not unheard of among the people, but it has been suppressed by the Protectorate.

It was not without consideration that the Protectorate had considered concluding a peace treaty with the Roman-Turks to temporarily stabilize the Western Front. However, the Romani Turks had never been in the habit of keeping peace treaties, and it is likely that the Wakaxia Kingdom concluded a peace treaty with the Turks in order to unify the Kansai region, and they probably used this opportunity to complete the unification of the Daishoku princes. In the eyes of most of the Protectors, a unified Turkic dynasty meant facing a new empire with a population of 20 million. The threat of 20 million Turkic subjects was far greater than that of 60 million Song people, and it also exceeded the 20 million Liao people with millions of Khitans as the core, not to mention that the Kanto Liao and Song countries were still holding each other back.

"With the military and civilian manpower in one place, the pressure on the entire army of the Great Food Turks is too great."

Zhao Xingde put down his wine glass and sighed: "Our partial division may be able to come in handy, I hope this battle will be over soon." ”

He could fully understand the psychology of the lieutenants in the river. Once the Romani Turks unified the Great Eclipse princes, they would truly become a behemoth. After the fall of the Baiyi Dynasty, the lieutenant of the river saw the Romani Turks as a thorn in his side that had to be removed. The heavy sacrifice of the soldiers in the river in the Battle of Resha Hai certainly stimulated the Protectorate, and the help of the Egyptian princes south of the Resand Sea was also an important reason for the Protectorate's determination to cut off this great problem.

And the situation in the Kanto region, in the best case, maybe after the river settles the Sultan of Roma, because the Liao and Song Dynasty consume each other and lose both, the Xia State will be able to solve the two tigers of the Kanto region more easily than now. And in the worst case, the most lost is just an opportunity, and in the past hundred years, Xia Guo has lost many opportunities. As if God did not want an empire across the eastern and western continents to appear, whenever the barbarians had just been defeated in Hezhong, the eastern front began to be unstable, and whenever the two tigers of the Liao and Song dynasties on the eastern front competed, there was often a threat on the western front. The Protectorate always prioritized consolidating the existing areas and protecting the peace and well-being of the military and civilians in accordance with the Protectorate Oath, rather than abandoning any front or risking fighting on both the Eastern and Western fronts.

Zhao Xingde's thoughts flashed quickly, as a general of the Southwest Sea, he naturally knew the strategy of the Protectorate Mansion, but, under the orderly layout, there always seemed to be some unclear undercurrents, and the army composed of more than 100,000 sergeants was pressed on the front line of the west, and there were hundreds of thousands of regimental training camps behind to protect the back road. Prime Minister Liu Yi, General Zhang Shanfu and others came to the front line, and Emperor Chen Xuan came to Kang Guo in person, and the center of gravity of the entire country seemed to have been seriously tilted with this war. Whenever he looked at the military report sent by the General's Mansion, he faintly felt a sense of fright. Therefore, after Guangzhou went to sea, he tried his best to urge the sailors to speed up the voyage, hoping to arrive at the battlefield in time and add a little weight to the balance of victory.

After Gao Su got drunk, Liu Zhijian and Shi Heng took him back to the cabin, and the three of them rested without mentioning it. A place like Champa is already a distant wilderness for the people of the Central Plains, but people who sail all year round have a feeling of nostalgia for the port. The fleet stayed in the city for two days and then lifted anchor, which actually aroused nostalgia again. For many, there seems to be no end in sight to the voyage ahead.

This night is a sleepless night for many people, because tomorrow we will set sail again......