Zheng Yunming laughed happily, he liked this kind and funny old man very much, at least he didn't bow to the dignitaries of the government like other temple abbots, he said: "Am I not right, what Buddha and Taoist saints are the most refuge for the people when they leave the chaos, not only physically, but also mentally. ”

"Look, look." Zen Master Huitong also laughed: "The official is really a person with Huigen, and after defeating the Mongols and becoming famous, it is better to consider Baishui Temple to enter the Tao." ”

Zheng Yunming changed the topic with a smile: "There are also a lot of refugees crowded in Baishui Temple now. If there is any shortage of food and applications, send someone to the deputy capital to inform the yamen, and we will definitely help if we can. ”

Huitong sang the Buddha horn again, and said with a bitter face: "Let Commander Yang return the bronze bell of this temple first." ”

Zheng Yunming smiled and said, "I said how did the bronze bell on the bell tower come so fast, and it is still a little familiar, it turns out to be the bell in Baishui Temple?" ”

Huitong said: "That's it, Commander Yang said that recently, the generals and envoys from all over the country have been frantically buying wrought iron and refined copper, saying that it is to build new weapons according to your patterns?" The copper he collected on the market couldn't build a big bell at all, so he brought a team of sergeants to pretend to be the big bell in our temple and ran away, and he was also in time for Lao Gao to go out when he had something to do, otherwise he would have stopped him from doing such a funny thing, alas, now the temple can only knock on the bell to break the fast, although it is not a big deal, but I always feel awkward. ”

Zheng Yunming said with a smile: "The big war is coming, the bell tower needs to be used to give orders, order the people in the city, and the monks in the temple will also act according to the bell orders, so let's lend the bell to the government for a while." When the Mongols are defeated, I will personally come to Baishui Temple to repay my vows, and worship a new bell to the temple by the way. ”

After bidding farewell to Huitong, Zheng Yunming continued to move forward, and the road was blocked by a team of vehicles escorting weapons to the city wall.

Zheng Yunming turned over and dismounted, and reached out to remove the corner of the felt covered by the cart, revealing the shining dark yellow body of General Tong, which was also engraved with a beautiful flying cloud ornament.

The officer reported to Zheng Yunming: "We are all subordinates of the Loyal and Righteous Army, and we have transported these four bronze generals to the tower of the West Gate City to be placed, and the envoy has also allocated us a hundred firearms for a single person, all thanks to the general's merit." ”

Zheng Yunming looked at these young soldiers with his hands behind his back, they were all recruits recruited by Zhao Kui from the local area when he established the Loyal and Righteous Army, and he looked a little helpless in front of the famous heroes of Xiangyang City.

"The big war is about to start," Zheng Yunming said in a relaxed tone: "This time the Hu people are attacking with all their might!" I heard that there are 700,000 horses coming to Xiangyang this time, are you afraid? ”

A young soldier puffed up his chest and said, "With Zhao Dashuai and General Zheng in Xiangyang City, we are not afraid!" ”

Zheng Yunming was happy and said: "I'm not much older than you in terms of age, why am I not afraid of the Mongols?" If you want me to say, it is inevitable that everyone will be afraid, the Hu people are so fierce and brave, killing people is the same as eating, who is not afraid when they see it? To be honest with you, I'm scared too. ”

He smiled: "But although I am afraid, I understand the weakness of the Hu people, they have spent many years attacking the central capital and attacking the Fengxiang Mansion, I dare to assure you that today's Xiangyang City is stronger than the Zhongdu of the Jin people, and the Mongols want to easily capture Xiangyang is tantamount to a fool's dream. What do you have? ”

He patted General Tong's cannon on the body: "We have ten times more firearms than the Jin people, if the Mongols dare to invade Xiangyang City, let them know what the anger of the Great Song Dynasty is!" ”

After a pause, he said: "Of course, the premise is that you can overcome your cowardice and use the firearms in your hands to teach those arrogant Hulu a hard lesson, can you do it?" ”

Everyone shouted: "Please rest assured, general, we will fight to the death with Hu Lu!" ”

Zheng Yunming shouted: "Always remember, Zhao Zhizhi and I are watching you right behind you!" He patted the officer on the shoulder and motioned for him to move on.

Along the way, the Martial God Temple was already close in front of him, and the herald had already taken the lead to notify the generals in the battalion, and brought them to the Martial God Temple in advance to gather, and lined up to welcome the arrival of the generals.

Zheng Yunming turned over and dismounted, let Han Feng take the tether and tie it to the tethered horse stake, and looked up at this very large temple. This martial temple is rebuilt after Yue Fei recovered the original dilapidated martial arts temple in Xiangyang, Yue Fei attaches great importance to the education and probation of his subordinates and soldiers, and redoubles his efforts when building this martial temple, hoping that the soldiers will absorb the wisdom of the predecessors and sages and become elite soldiers with both wisdom and bravery.

But more than 150 years later, the temple is slightly old and dilapidated, and even the threshold in front of the gate has been stripped of patent leather, revealing the true color of elm wood in the mottling.

Zheng Yunming frowned: "It's about to go to war, why is it still so deserted here?" Don't all the soldiers come to God for peace? ”

Yang Wei shook his head and smiled: "What you said is all the old yellow calendar, who is still keen to worship this old man Jiang now?" Now it is popular to worship the Holy Emperor Guan, you go to the Guandi Temple in Dongcheng to see, the incense there is very prosperous, and now the officials are crowded in it to worship, and the soldiers are still not squeezed in. ”

Since the middle of the Song Dynasty, the worship of Guan Yu has gradually moved away from the simple praise of Guan Zhang's armed forces, and has become a symbol of loyalty and righteousness among the people. This is probably because the civil economy began to be active in the Song Dynasty, the influence of civil society increased, and the popularity of small talk books with the theme of the Three Kingdoms had a lot to do with it. As one of the seventy-two sons of Wumiao, Guan Yu gradually surpassed the ten famous military strategists above him, and finally surpassed Zhang Liang and Jiang Taigong, becoming the main idol of the Song Dynasty's folk belief in force.

Zheng Yunming looked at the dusty plaque hanging high on the gate and said, "Since this is the case, then let's come and pay a good tribute to the old man Jiang Ziya, and let him see that not all people in Xiangyang City who respect martial arts and bravery, but also respect the art of war." ”

Saying that, he led everyone into the Wu Temple, and the temple Zhu learned that the deputy capital of Jing and Hubei was going to come to worship, and cleaned the hall early. Zheng Yunming led the generals to offer incense and prayers, and looked at the tablets of Jiang Ziya and Zhang Liang in the hall, and suddenly felt something in his heart.

He turned around and said to everyone: "Lu Shang assisted King Wu to crusade against Shang and create an eight-hundred-year foundation of the Zhou Dynasty, Zhang Liang carefully planned for Gaozu to prosper the Liu family for four hundred years, so future generations admire, but to be able to enter the martial temple to become a soldier saint, Lu Shang has "Liutao", Zhang Liang has "Three Strategies", this is the most critical. ”

Later generations admired Sun Tzu's Art of War, but at this time, the people of the time used "Huangshi Gong Sanluo" and "Taigong Liutao" as the basic textbooks of the Art of War. Wang Deng said: "Indeed, such as Sun Tzu's thirteen articles on the art of war, Sima Zi has Sima Law handed down, Zhuge Wuhou has twenty-four articles on the art of war, although these people's achievements are endless, but the works are passed down to future generations, so they deserve to enjoy the name of the martial temple." ”

Zheng Yunming said: "But have you ever thought about it, all these works are written for people who want to serve as generals, such as Li Weigong taught Hou Junji the art of war, also after Hou Junji commanded 10,000 people." No one had ever written a book to the lowest soldiers and colonels about how to fight. ”

Ge Huai shouted: "The soldiers can't recognize a basket of characters, even if you write a book to teach them how to fight, they can't understand it, not to mention that we soldiers want to rely on the strength of the handle, archery and snake to beg for a bowl of rice to eat, like all the readers, what is the matter with burying in the pile of books every day?" ”

Zheng Yunming said: "Boss Ge doesn't have to regard books as something to be respectful and distant, books are just tools used to carry the Tao, since they can record the words of the saints and promote the Tao of literature, they can naturally record the principles of the military family and spread the martial arts." Now not only the soldiers, but even the generals who are in charge and at the unified level are proud of their illiteracy. It's not something to boast about, whether it's words and deeds, whether it's the drills of the commanders, how many twists and turns a farmer who doesn't know anything about military affairs has to grow into a veteran who can advance and retreat freely on the battlefield, everyone has had this experience, and I don't need to go into details, if they can get a regular system of soldier education as soon as they join the army, such as a book dedicated to teaching them how to become qualified soldiers."

Wang Deng reminded: "They are illiterate, and it is in vain to get books." ”

Zheng Yunming said: "They are illiterate, you are all literate. He pointed to his subordinates, "We are different from the previous army, if we don't make good use of the advantage that the generals are all scholars, wouldn't it blow up their shortcomings?" The book, I, Wang Jingsong, and Yang Chun's father will be responsible for writing it, and after it is finished, it will be distributed to each battalion, and you, as well as the marching professors and scholars in the barracks, will be responsible for reading it to the soldiers. ”

He turned to Yang Luo and Wang Deng: "Are you two okay?" ”

Yang Luo turned his head and glanced at Wang Deng: "Of course it's no problem, but when the two of us have different views, who has the final say?" ”

Zheng Yunming said: "There is no need to argue, I have the final say." He paused and said, "I will synthesize the opinions of veterans and generals with the White Army Division, and make a comprehensive judgment on the points of disagreement." ”

Wang Deng, who had been holding back the question for a long time, finally couldn't hold it back at this time, and he asked: "The White Army Division has not been seen since the morning, where did he go to escape at such a critical moment?" ”

"To be honest, I don't know." Zheng Yunming said: "In the morning, he went out of the city with a team of Beiwei troops and a team of people, saying that he was going to do a confidential and important matter related to the fate of Xiangyang, and I don't know what it is. ”