Chapter 389: A Million Brave

Five months have passed since Fang Xie left Chang'an, and now more than 800,000 people have gathered in Gyeonggi Province. These young and strong men from all walks of life in the Central Plains, with a great ambition to make a name for themselves but take them right away, left their homes, took weapons and clothes, some trekked hundreds of miles, some trekked thousands of miles, and gathered outside Chang'an City.

These brave men were divided into one army, one battalion, and one team according to the establishment of the soldiers.

According to the ancestral system of the Great Sui conscription, the families of the soldiers were all military and had certain privileges. Unless necessary, the selection of soldiers will never be selected from among the civilian population outside the military ranks. And this recruitment is brave, all children of good families can sign up, over 17 years old, under 40 years old, no record of being a traitor, and people with clean family backgrounds can join the army.

Several acropolis outside Chang'an City have been turned into huge training grounds.

However, the number of people who signed up to join the army continued to increase, and a steady stream of young men with dreams of military merit came from all over the country to enter Gyeonggi Province. The official road was full of men hurrying in the direction of Chang'an, wearing simple leather armor made by themselves, holding knives forged in the country blacksmith shops, some leading horses, some leading mules, and some leading donkeys.

No one thinks that war is cruel, and all they see in their eyes is a glittering future. In times of peace, they can only engage in agriculture and business, and there is no way to change their destiny by their own ability. But when the war came, they suddenly found a golden strip in front of them.

They are all ordinary people, and they have not seen the blood flowing on the battlefield.

They only remember the regrets in the hearts of their grandparents and only look forward to a better future. All of them got it right away because of that fame, who doesn't want to be a great general?

At this time, Luo Yao, this person's name was mentioned countless times.

When people are discussing, they often say, you see, Luo Yao was just a poor boy from a poor background, if it weren't for the war, he might still be herding sheep on the slopes of his hometown in the northwest, or weeding in the fields with a hoe. Because of the war, this originally ordinary peasant boy became a big man destined to leave a strong mark in the history books of the Great Sui.

He is not from a military family, but he has not won many battles on the battlefield by relying on his courage?

When they arrived in Gyeonggi-do, the young men had excitement on their faces. They deliberately forgot that they could die in the Northwest, and that every successful person in history had a pile of white bones behind him. They all felt that they had a chance to be the one who succeeded, and that someone else was the corpse.

The generals of the guards assigned many veterans to train these brave soldiers, and the veterans tried to tell the young men who were strong and strong that war was not child's play. But no one really listened, and to them, the stories of the veterans were good. Let their blood boil, and make their hearts more full of fighting spirit.

Even if the treasury of the Great Sui is full, the grain and grass can still be supplied, and the salary and silver are barely enough, but the equipment is obviously difficult to gather for a while. After screening, there were still more than 800,000 brave people left, and the treasury of the military department was almost empty, and it was not enough for each of them to get a piece of leather armor.

Since these days, the emperor's mood seems to have improved a lot. Because of his call, the sons of the Great Sui came. No one feared and no one resisted, and they were all willing to give their lives for the sake of this empire. So the haze in the emperor's heart was gradually replaced by blood, and he would occasionally climb the towering wall of Chang'an City, looking down on the brave below, at this time, he was sure that as long as he reached out and pointed forward, these men would scream and rush in the direction he was pointing.

It's definitely emotional, isn't it?

He is the supreme emperor and the man at the helm of this empire.

Although he has not aged, he has not felt this kind of excitement in many years.

"With such a people, what am I worried about?"

He said with a smile.

The walls of Chang'an City are too high, and when you stand on it and look down on the outside of the city, the people below appear to be small. Therefore, the emperor could not see those brave men fighting for a place to sleep, he could not see that anyone dared to look at the veterans, and he could not see that someone took advantage of the chaos to steal the few pieces of silver in the backpacks of the people around him.

All he saw was that hundreds of thousands of people had come for him.

"The people of the Great Sui are willing to sacrifice their lives for Your Majesty at any time."

Pei Yan, the waiter of the Yellow Gate, pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, leaned over and said with a smile.

He was very satisfied with the small gift Fang Xie gave him, and he could see that this young man was very attentive. He had only talked to Fang Xie once, and Fang Xie must have seen that his eyes were not very good. Perennial in the small house in the inner court to review the folds, even if the lights are on, over the years, the eyes are still more and more blurred.

These glasses are very good and allow him to see a lot more clearly.

He knew that the emperor also had one, and it was also sent by Fang Jie.

He did not hide the glasses from the emperor, on the contrary, he deliberately let the emperor see them. Sometimes it is not necessary to say a person's name for the emperor to remember it. The gadget on the bridge of his nose made him remember the young man who was detained by Luo Yao in the left guard.

"Luo Yao's left forward has arrived at Huangyang Road."

Pei Yan said in a low voice: "We have already deployed defense on the south bank of the Huangniu River, and with the left avant-garde here, Huangyang Dao doesn't have to worry." The imperial army is open, and it only needs to storm Hexi Road, and it will be difficult for the rebels to stop His Majesty's Tianwei. ”

"You had a good idea."

The emperor smiled and said: "You said that you don't need to mobilize people to garrison Huangyang Dao, because Huangyang Dao is the barrier of the four southwestern Dao, no matter whether Luo Yao has any objections, he will not sit back and watch Huangyang Dao fail." I sent someone to send an edict to transfer 100,000 troops, and I had long expected that Luo Yao would not divide his troops, and he would immediately take his men and horses north. I can't believe this person, but the southwest can't do without him. What you said a while ago I think it makes sense, Luo Yao has no objection, and he won't oppose anything. If he is rebellious, he will rebel no matter what. ”

"In order to guard against him, I mobilized people and horses to defend Jiangnan. Thinking about it now, why didn't it force Luo Yao and me to drift apart? ”

"Your Majesty's Divine Wisdom"

Pei Yan said: "Luo Yao went north to Huangyang Road, which can not only disperse the rebel forces, but also transfer Luo Yao out of Yongzhou, killing two birds with one stone." ”

The Emperor snorted and looked at the bravery beneath the city walls. His face flushed slightly, which was deliberately suppressed excitement.

"I lost 700,000 elites in the northwest, Li Yuanshan deceived me once, and I admitted that I fell for him, but I won't suffer such a loss a second time. I sit on the four seas, and the world returns to the heart. The army of 700,000 is gone, and there are still 700,000, 7 million people and 70 million people serving me! Li Yuanshan thought that the emperor could sit casually? Think that as long as you occupy those few tired places in the northwest, you can fight against me? ”

"The foundation of the Great Sui Dynasty has been passed down for thousands of generations, and no one can covet it!"

The emperor paused, then glanced at Pei Yan.

"You deliberately wore these glasses to help Fang Xie speak?"

Pei Yan's face changed, and he hurriedly lowered his head and said, "The minister's careful thinking naturally can't hide His Majesty's eyes." ”

The Emperor snorted and said, "You know that I hate opportunists the most, and I hate courtiers who have formed a party. ”

"Don't dare!"

Pei Yan leaned down deeply.

"I know that you don't have this mind, for so many years you have been sitting in the inner court room to share worries about me, and your status in the court is transcendent, if you want to form a party and run a private business, there will already be countless sycophants around you."

"The glasses are very good, and I have one too, which is even more beautiful than yours!"

He said a word and turned to leave.

The corners of Pei Yan's mouth were picked, and there was a hint of smugness in his eyes.

No one can grasp the emperor's mind more accurately than him.

……

……

The general Xu Xiaogong led people around the Xiaoyong camp, and his brows were always furrowed. These braves seem to be really high-spirited, and one by one they don't seem to be convinced. But in Xu Xiaogong's eyes, even if there is no shortage of people with outstanding martial arts, these brave people are simply a mess of sand. The original estimate was too optimistic, thinking that after several months of training, these people would at least be able to abide by basic military discipline, if not comparable to soldiers.

The first few troops trained were barely usable, and when they were pulled out, at least the queue was quite neat. The quality of these people in the future is becoming more and more worrying. Among them, there are even many thugs who spend money to issue a document from the local government to clean the white family, and they have changed from ruffians to soldiers of the country!

Can such an army really fight?

Xu Xiaogong, who has been leading troops for more than 20 years, is full of questions.

"Brother Xiaolian!"

While he was pondering, someone called out to him from behind.

Xu Xiaogong looked back and saw that it was the new general of Zuo Wuwei, Liu Enjing, who quickly chased after him.

Liu Enjing used to be a general of the right avant-garde, but later because of the death of his father, he had to keep filial piety for three years. Zuo Wuwei rebelled, Yu Manlou was killed, the emperor ordered the rebuilding of Zuo Wuwei, and Liu Enjing made a comeback. This man was also a battle-hardened veteran, and was once recognized as the most promising young man in the army during the expedition to the Shang Kingdom. But decades have passed, and the young man who was strong and strong back then is now gray.

is less than fifty years old, and he looks like he has experienced many vicissitudes.

"Engu, why are you here?"

Liu Enjing hurriedly followed and hugged his fists: "It's not for the selection of soldiers, Zuo Wuwei has not yet been fully staffed, and the military family has not made up enough numbers for a guard, so I have no choice but to come to the Xiaoyong camp to select people." ”

"Alas......"

Xu Xiaogong sighed: "It's hard for you." ”

Liu Enjing shook his head, took Xu Xiaogong's hand and walked aside: "Brother Xiaolian, why don't you tell Your Majesty, if these heroes are not restrained, sooner or later there will be chaos." ”

"Say?"

Xu Xiaogong smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty has made three wills in a row, and you will be rewarded for your bravery. In His Majesty's eyes, these brave people are the most loyal people. A while ago, there was a brave trouble, Zuo Zhenwei cut off the heads of several people according to military discipline, His Majesty learned about it, he was very angry, and he lowered that other general to the end and beat him with twenty lashes, who would dare to say? ”

"Your Majesty has been in the past two years, and his temperament seems to be getting more and more incomprehensible."

Liu Enjing lowered her voice and said, "Why don't you go find Pei Yan?" I have heard that His Majesty has the most trust in this man, and if he is willing to speak, it may be useful. If this continues, no matter how many people there are, these brave people are just a group of rabble, how can they be pulled to the battlefield to resist the enemy? ”

"Pei Yan?"

Xu Xiaogong snorted coldly: "If you have any money, just go to him again." ”

"In the past year, all of His Majesty's thoughts have been on how to subdue the northwest, and most of the affairs in the court have been handed over to Pei Yan. This man used to look fairly fair, but now he is getting more and more greedy. Take the matter of Huangyang Dao as an example, according to reason, it should have been deployed a long time ago, but His Majesty listened to Pei Yan's words, and said that he would use the rebels to force Luo Yao and urge the left avant-garde to go north to resist the enemy...... This kind of death ...... You can say this kind of nonsense! ”

"Your Majesty is getting more and more paranoid."

Liu Enjing sighed: "Although I have only returned to Chang'an not long ago, I can see it. In His Majesty's eyes, there is only the northwest now, and other state affairs are rarely involved. With the exception of the Northwest, His Majesty spent most of his time teaching the Crown Prince...... The crown prince is not yet ten years old, and I heard two days ago that His Majesty has asked the prince to approve the recital, and I can't figure out what is wrong with Your Majesty! ”

"Maybe we're thinking too far."

Xu Xiaogong was silent for a while and said: "The men and horses of the left avant-garde have arrived at Huangyang Road, and it is said that they are arrayed along the Huangniu River. Luo Yao's ability to lead the troops is still unmatched, as long as he doesn't have dirty intentions, the rebels can't win. And His Majesty only has one heir, the crown prince, so it is reasonable to value the prince......"

"Who knows......"

Liu Enjing shook his head: "I just look forward to the end of this battle as soon as possible." ”

Xu Xiaogong nodded: "Da Sui, there can't be another big mess......

(It rained all night and a half, and when I wrote about Da Sui, I was in a gloomy mood when I wrote this chapter.) )