The five years of Zhongping in the Han Empire was definitely a very noisy year.

First of all, in the first month of spring, the soldiers of the Hutu tribe committed Xihe County, and the county guard Xing Ji was killed. Then in February, Guo Tai and other white wave thieves started in Hedong. In March, the Hugh Tu Department attacked and merged the state, and assassinated Zhang Yi to death.

In the summer and April, the Yellow Turban of Runan rose again and attacked the county. In June, Yizhou Yellow Turban Ma Xiang attacked and assassinated Shi Xijian, claiming to be the Son of Heaven (this cow!). Later, he went to Koba County and killed the county guard Zhao Department.

In autumn and September, the Xiongnu rebelled in Nandan, colluded with the white wave thieves, and invaded Hedong and other places.

In winter and October, the green and Xu yellow scarves revived, Koujun County. In November, the soldiers of the Liangzhou Thief Kingdom besieged Chencang.

It can be said that from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, there is no day of stopping. The Han government was overwhelmed by the rebellions and intrusions.

In the face of this mess, the most worried in the court is naturally He Jin, the highest military and political chief in the Han Dynasty. Emperor Liu Hong could continue to eat, drink and be a shopkeeper as always, but he couldn't. Although the general is in a high position, he is essentially just a wage earner.

After taking the salary offered by the emperor, he has to do things for the emperor. It's just that He Jin's ability is really average, and his family is also a self-employed pork seller, and he can't get up to the level of a power struggle or anything, let alone his military internal affairs ability.

Although He Jin's own ability is not good, he is still some of his subordinates after all. Faced with this chaotic situation in the world, one of his subordinates, the general Sima Xu Liang, proposed a solution to him: "In "Taigong Liutao", it is said that 'the Son of Heaven can dislike the Quartet'! ”

He Jin hadn't seen "Taigong Liutao", but he had heard of Jiang Ziya's name. Since it was said by a celebrity, it naturally can't be wrong.

Therefore, He Jinshen thought so, and immediately asked the lord Bo Chen Lin to write Chen Shu to Emperor Ling, and asked Emperor Ling to set up a camp in Beijing to talk about martial arts, so as to show the prestige of the Son of Heaven and make the Quartet dare not act rashly.

Liu Hong, the Emperor of Han Ling, who had only experienced Wang Fen's rebellion not long ago, saw He Jin's book, and also felt that he should show his strength, otherwise others would really think that he was weak and could be bullied. So he issued an edict to send troops from all directions, gathered in Pingxing, who was optimistic outside the west gate, and built a big altar in Pingxing, and Emperor Ling ascended the altar to talk about martial arts and parade the army.

The largest military exercise during the reign of Emperor Ling began, known in history as the "Ping Optimistic Soldiers". (Note: Yi Bing refers to the parade army)

As the eighth lieutenant of Xiyuan, the descendant of Emperor Liu Hong of the Han Dynasty, he naturally also had to participate in this martial arts lecture. It's just surprising that Emperor Ling's two princes, Liu Wei and Liu Xie, were also taken by Emperor Ling to participate in it.

Thinking of the rumors that Emperor Ling's health was not good a while ago, some people speculated that Emperor Ling's move seemed to have the intention of investigating the prince and establishing a prince.

Taishi Ling chose an auspicious day, Emperor Ling bathed and changed clothes, and wore armor to take Liu Bian and Liu Xie to the altar. The Eighth School of the West Garden, Yulin Huben, the Fifth Battalion of the Northern Army under the command of He Jin, the Ti Cavalry and the Captain of Tuen Mun and other steps, tens of thousands of horsemen all formed a camp and stood in front of the altar.

First, there was a prayer to the heavens, and then Liu Hong, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, got off the altar and rode a horse, marched to the front of the army, and called himself the "supreme general". All the soldiers bowed their heads and bowed, shouting long live. Emperor Ling rode around the army three times to show the emperor's martial arts.

Although Liu Bian, who is a modern person, is accustomed to the magnificent military parade in his previous life, he is very bored with the meaningless formalism of Emperor Ling. However, looking at the excited expressions of the generals who don't know whether they are true or not, they have to think that this is a means to unite the morale of the army.

After running three laps, the Spirit Emperor, who had been addicted to wine all year round, had begun to pant and sweat profusely. Just as he wanted to go back to the palace to rest, He Jin said at this time: "The soldiers are hard, please give your majesty wine to comfort their hearts!" ”

Emperor Ling was so tired that he couldn't speak at this time, he just wanted to go back to the palace and lie down comfortably for a while, seeing He Jin in front of him, although he was dissatisfied, he still said: "Zhun Qing played!" ”

He Jin seemed to have expected Emperor Ling to say this, and immediately said: "The prince is the prince of the country, please allow His Royal Highness Shihou, the eldest son of the emperor, to give wine to the soldiers on behalf of the emperor, so as to show the emperor's grace." ”

Emperor Ling couldn't help but wake up when he heard He Jin say this. It is a very symbolic thing for a prince to replace the emperor to comfort the soldiers. He Jin recommended Liu Bian to do this, which was nothing more than to increase Liu Bian's qualifications to inherit the throne, and also to draw in the relationship between Liu Bian and the army. And emphasizing the matter of the emperor's eldest son, I am afraid that he is reminding himself that he is young and orderly, and preventing himself from letting Liu Xie do this matter instead.

A while ago, he cut off the possibility of Liu Wei inheriting the throne with one sentence, and it seems that He Jin is not reconciled, and wants to win back a city here.

It's just that the means are too clumsy and simple, and Emperor Ling of Han, who has experienced political struggles such as the extermination of the Dou clan and the party rebellion, will naturally not be fooled. Just saw him sneer and said: "That is the case, then the edict of the prince Liu Wei and Liu Xiedai gave wine to the soldiers." ”

Let Liu Wei and Liu Xie give wine together, it will not show the idea of Liu Wei's unique status that He Jin wants to show, and it can also block He Jin's statement that he is old and young in order.

After Emperor Ling finished speaking, he walked away regardless of He Jin, leaving He Jin standing in place, his face blue and white for a while. He didn't dare not pass on the emperor's will - he still didn't have the courage and the IQ of a pig to overhaul the edict, so he had to send someone to announce the edict.

When Emperor Ling descended from the altar, the two brothers Liu Bian and Liu Xie were still on the altar. After all, they were too young to ride a horse with Emperor Ling, so they didn't know He Jin's political tricks with Emperor Ling. After hearing the edict, he did not think much about it, but after preparing the wine, he went down to the altar.

Tens of thousands of sergeants Liu Wei and Liu Xie naturally could not give wine one by one, but could only be represented by the captains of each battalion and saluted them one by one.

One yellow door held the wine bottle, and the other yellow door held a wooden plate with ear cups, Liu Wei toasted, and Liu Xie held a wine spoon to fill the ear glasses on the side.

Since Jiang Qi came out to lead the first army, Liu Wei has reduced his contact with him on the surface. Usually you need to contact you with a slip of paper with a password. So when he came to him, Liu Wei didn't make any expression, and looked like he was doing business. Jiang Qi also knew what he meant, the same color was not fake, and no flaws were exposed.

But when he came to Cao Cao, Liu Wei toasted and said softly: "I hope the general can be loyal to the country and make contributions." ”

Cao Cao, who was originally bowing his head, couldn't help but look up when he heard this, and found that the Royal Highness Shihou in front of him turned out to be the white-clothed young man who was sent to him by the grass pavilion when he left Luoyang that day!

Cao Cao's face suddenly showed a look of surprise, and Liu Bian smiled slightly and handed him Liu Xie's full wine glass.

Cao Cao didn't dare to do anything else, so he only drank the wine, and quickly lowered his head, shocked in his heart.

I had already heard about Cao Cao's return to Luoyang, and I was even more surprised that he soared into the sky and became a military captain in the eight schools of the West Garden. I've been looking for an opportunity to meet him secretly, but I haven't found time. Seeing him at this time, Liu Wei found that Cao Cao was more mature and stable than when he saw him last time, and seemed to have become wise because he had experienced the hardships of the world. And it is estimated that he is raised at home, and he has become much fatter, and he is no longer the black and thin young man he used to be.

It's just that at this time, low-key is still the main theme of Liu Wei's life, and it is impossible to catch up with Cao Cao on the spot. After saluting the captains one by one, they also returned to the palace.

Although the great Ping Optimistic soldiers ended victoriously, the practical problems of the Han Empire were not solved. Because rebellion is a lifeless industry, it is impossible for your emperor to conduct a military exercise, and everyone will be afraid.

So in November of the fifth year of Zhongping, the Son of Heaven issued an edict to send Bao Hong, the captain of the military academy, to fight against the Yellow Turban of Runan Gepo. Sent to the army to fight against the rebellion of the Ban Barbarians of Ba County. Send Captain Jiang Qi to fight the Black Mountain Thieves in Hanoi.

Originally, there was no such thing as Jiang Qi crusading against the Black Mountain thieves in history, but Liu Wei secretly used means to let Jiang Qi join.

Liu Wei's purpose in mind was very simple, although Jiang Qi's troops had been trained for a long time, they had never fought a battle. How can an army that has not seen blood qualify as a strong army?

Therefore, Liu Wei secretly asked Jiang Qi to bribe Jian Shuo, so that he would speak in front of Emperor Ling that the Black Mountain thieves were powerful and had invaded Hanoi, Zhaojun, Changshan and other places many times, and they would become the henchmen of the Han Dynasty for a long time.

Emperor Ling's former residence was in Hanoi, and some of the treasures he had looted were placed in his old residence. Fearing that his property would be lost, Emperor Ling hurriedly issued an edict to crusade, and Jian Shuo took the opportunity to recommend Jiang Qi to go on the expedition.

The matter was settled, and the day before Jiang Qi prepared for the battle, Liu Wei didn't care whether anyone would find out about the connection between him and Jiang Qi, and secretly took Wei Yi to Jiang Qi's military camp.

With such a thousand people in his hands, Liu Wei really can't withstand a big battle, so he will naturally be a little worried. The reason why the Montenegrin army chose to crusade was also with the purpose of training the troops and preserving their strength.

At this time, the Montenegrin army was not as powerful as Jian Shuo said, although they would indeed become the henchmen of the Han Dynasty in the future, but now they have just started, and they have not formed the strength of most of the three or forty thousand, and the small one of five or six thousand, at best, they are now just a group of remnants of the Yellow Turban Uprising after the failure to flow between the two states of Hebei and Hebei, and some local bankrupt peasants combined, they have lost the political ideas of "the sky is dead, the yellow sky should stand" and other political ideas have been reduced to a gang of gangsters.

In the barracks, Liu Wei gave Jiang Qi some earnest advice, which probably meant to remind him that he only had about a thousand people at hand, don't go to the hard, and don't engage in those large-scale thief armies, especially a person named Zhang Yan or Zhang Feiyan, try to avoid him when he sees him, and just find those small troops to train the army.

Jiang Qi is also a bloody general, but when he heard Liu Wei's request to fear the enemy like a tiger, he naturally felt dissatisfied in his heart, especially if he wanted him to hide from an unknown thief, which made him feel unbearable.

It's just that I've been with Liu Wei for so long, and I know his unmistakable character, and on the first day he was by Liu Bian's side, Liu Wei said something like this to him:

"A soldier should take obedience as his duty!"

Jiang Qi has always kept it in mind and never forgotten. Therefore, although he was resentful of what Liu Bian said, he still swore to Liu Bian that he would win and live up to his trust!

Jiang Qi didn't know that two months later he would bring Liu Wei a victorious result and thunderous news.